Projects
Disclosing thermophiles for industrial biotechnology by developing an orthogonal synthetic biology toolbox. Ghent University
Over the past decades, the development of microbial cell factories for industrial applications was limited by the over-reliance on non-optimal model organisms. These non-optimal hosts are applied in bioproduction processes or for bioengineering. However, typically cell resources are used inefficiently, and there is a toxic build-up of intermediates, causing a metabolic burden and leading to lower yields and suboptimal processes. Indeed, a ...
Cell-PHactory: Exploiting phage as a source of novel synthetic biology tools to improve industrial fermentations. KU Leuven
As nature’s first bioengineers, bacteriophage have evolved to modify, adapt and control their bacterial hosts through billions of years of interactions. Indeed, like modern synthetic biologists aspire to do, bacteriophages already evade bacterial silencing of their xenogeneic DNA, subvert host gene expression, and co-opt both the central and peripheral host metabolisms of their hosts. Studying these key insights from a molecular systems ...
Synthetic biology and artificial intelligence, mutual learning to advance together and jointly drive industrial biotechnology - accelerating knowledge discovery and strain engineering Ghent University
This project aims the development of novel and innovativemachine learning and synthetic biology parts, tools and techniques by mutual learning, to jointly drive the strain engineering process. This ensemble will enable reliable forward engineering, which will be demonstrated by the development of a microbial cell factory for the flavonoid kaempferol.
Material, energy and water management in industrial parks: industrial symbiosis. (POL/001/07). KU Leuven
Epidemiology, ecology and management of rhizogenic agrobacteria, causative agents of hairy root disease in vegetable crops. KU Leuven
Crazy roots, a disease caused by Agrobacterium rhizogenes, is becoming a major problem in the Flemish greenhouse horticulture, in particular in the cultivation of tomato, cucumber and eggplant.A.rhizogenes infection results in an extensive development of the root system and in a strong vegetative growth of the plant, which is detrimental for fruit development. During the last few years crazy roots has spread fast in the Flemish horticulture, ...
SRP (Zwaartepunt): Towards a Sustainable Media Ecology? The Case of the Flemish Audiovisual Industry Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Development of the Price equation to integrate evolution in community ecology. KU Leuven
The insight in a mathematical structure of these methods allow us to apply these methods on datasets already ...
Bacterial invasion ecology in microbial biofilms captured by time-lapse microscope imaging. A movie on bacterial strife. KU Leuven
Microbial invasion concerns the establishment of an ‘alien’ microbial species in a resident microbial community. Understanding the rules and mechanisms that govern microbial invasion is of high importance as invasion is an ubiquitous process, involving beneficial and detrimental organisms and affecting various industrial and health domains. Clearly, microbial invasion has to be seen from an ecological perspective. Main ecological determinants ...
Sustainable methanotrophs: from ecology to microbial resource management Ghent University
The concept of microbial resource management will be applied on methanothrophic bacteria. Natural methane-oxidising inocula will be transferred and selected under different conditions in high rate and high affinity reactors. Functional and taxonomic diversity of the consortia will be analysed. Accredited deposit and storage of these consortia will be developed. The obtained methanotrophs will be screened for relevant biotechnological ...