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Project

Detection of the role of the Daphnia microbiome in microplastics degradation

Despite huge research efforts in recent years, microplastics and their effects are still understudied. Research is urgently needed on this rising pollutant, especially regarding their degradability in freshwater ecosystems. Several micro-organisms (bacteria and cyanobacteria) have been linked to their ability in degrading microplastics and a potential is given that microplastic degrading organisms can also be found in the gut of Daphnia, a common and intensive filter feeder in freshwater ecosystems. With this project, I hope to unravel this potential by identifying degradation pathways in the gut microbiome of Daphnia magna. Aquatic environments with different exposures to microplastics pollution will be sampled on Daphnia and free-living bacterioplankton and microbiome communities will be identified using amplicon sequencing, the presence of microplastics degradation pathways through metagenomics. In a second step, a Daphnia microbiome test model will be deployed that allows for the testing of toxicity and degradability by exposing Daphnia to different types microplastics (with a focus on microfibres). The hypothesis is that over time microplastic degrading communities evolve, that use microplastics as an additional carbon source by hydrolysing polymers to monomers. Additionally, by testing different types of microplastics – classical, biodegradable, newly developed – I hope to ascertain the most sustainable solution by using a bottom-up approach and testing biodegradability based on the response of the microbial community associated with this invertebrate host organism.

Date:12 Jan 2021 →  14 Mar 2022
Keywords:Ecotixcology, Microplastics, Aquatic biology, Daphnia, Microbiome
Disciplines:Aquatic biology, Ecotoxicology
Project type:PhD project