Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast Ecosystems for the development of Probiotic Extracellular Vesicles

Project description

Antimicrobial properties in culinary symbiotic fermentation cultures

Fermented foods have been consumed for centuries for their longevity and digestive health benefits. They can help combat dysbiosis and enhance immune responses to pathogens. However, they may negatively affect immunosuppressed patients by altering digestive microbiomes. With support from the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the SCOBY DO project will explore the Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast (SCOBY) ecosystem by investigating biomembrane-delimited nanostructures. It will use extracellular vesicles (EVs) from kombucha, a fermented beverage made with SCOBY, for their antimicrobial properties against gastrointestinal infections and foodborne pathogens. The project aims to optimise kombucha SCOBY cultures for EV production, study the role of these EVs in interspecies communication, and evaluate their impact on bacterial pathogens.

Objective

Fermented foods are used for many centuries all over the world for their contribution to longevity and digestive health. Regular consumption of fermented foods can combat dysbiosis and boost hosts immune response against various pathogens and associated diseases. However, they increase the microbiome of the digestive tract and can have adverse effects on immunosuppressed patients. Rather than single-strain probiotics, we will study Symbiotic Culture of Bacteria and Yeast Ecosystem (SCOBY) derived biomembrane-delimited nanostructures to obtain similar or enhanced beneficial effects. To that end, extracellular vesicles (EVs) harvested from kombucha, a fermented beverage based on tea and sugar produced with a SCOBY will be exploited for their antimicrobial properties against gastrointestinal bacterial infections and food-borne bacterial pathogens.

The experienced researcher is a microbiologist with strong academic background in the field of microbiology, infectious diseases, and bioinformatics who will team-up with the Institute of Biosciences and BioResources with considerable expertise in EV research to carry out a uniquely interdisciplinary research program. The research will realize the following objectives: 1. to set-up and optimize kombucha SCOBY cultures for the production of EVs, 2. to study the role of SCOBY-derived EVs in interspecies communication and their impact on gastrointestinal bacterial pathogens, and 3. to synthetize molecularly imprinted polymers specific for the enrichment of SCOBY-EVs. To our knowledge, none of these objectives has been addressed before and they all have the potential to expand the knowledge in the field and drive the research towards biotechnology applications in health and disease. The research objectives are integrated with concerted training objectives in EV research, mass spectrometry, MIPs design and synthesis, outreach program, dissemination events and considerable knowledge transfer in microbiology from the researcher.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2022-PF-01

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

CONSIGLIO NAZIONALE DELLE RICERCHE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 188 590,08
Address
PIAZZALE ALDO MORO 7
00185 Roma
Italy

See on map

Region
Centro (IT) Lazio Roma
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

No data
My booklet 0 0