Projects
Building robust flocs and granules on demand for wastewater treatment and resource recovery. KU Leuven
Flocs or granules are the cornerstones of process intensification in biotechnological processes. They enable (i) an easy biomass-liquid separation, (ii) a better retention of slow growing organisms and their key metabolic functions, and (iii) a stratification of the micro-organisms, allowing for synergistic processes or shielding from unfavorable environmental conditions. Evidently, the building blocks and strategies that lead to strong ...
Do lectins play an important role in the micro colony formation of activated sludge flakes? KU Leuven
The (cost) efficiency and, hence, sustainability of biological wastewater treatment systems very much depends on the bioflocculation ability of the biomass. Poorly flocculated activated sludge severely hampers the water-sludge separation step, no matter whether it is gravitational (in classic activated sludge systems (CAS)) or filtration-driven (in membrane bioreactors (MBR)). Although bioflocculation of activated sludge has been intensively ...
Adhesins: The missing link for activated sludge bioflocculation KU Leuven
Activated sludge bioaggregation is critical to the proper performance of biological wastewater treatment systems because without an efficient sludge-water separation, the effluent quality deteriorates, and slow-growing organisms might wash out. Activated sludge flocs are mainly composed of floc-forming and filamentous bacteria and extracellular polymeric substances. Among the extracellular polymeric substances are the amyloid adhesins: highly ...
Micro- and macroscopic investigation of the food microstructural influence on microbial dynamics: Case study in/on fish products KU Leuven
Microbiological food safety remains a major challenge in today’s society, proving the need for improved strategies to avoid the presence of dangerous numbers of pathogens in our foods. By using predictive microbiology, the effect of processing, distribution, and storage conditions on the microbiological safety of foods can be quantified. Mathematical models which predict the growth or inactivation behaviour of pathogens are developed, in turn ...
Microchip based Impedance Sensors for in situ Evaluation of evaluation of Bacterial Biofilm Formation (See2B). KU Leuven
State of the art:
Biofilms are complex, highly variable, surface-associated communities of microorganisms, embedded in a self-produced matrix. Within biofilms bacteria are up to 1000 times more tolerant to antibiotics, disinfectants and other stresses.[1] Several factors contribute to this increased tolerance, such as protection by the biofilm matrix, slow growth and low metabolic activity of bacteria within biofilms, biofilm ...
Whole transcriptome analyses of Pseudomonas aeruginosa after infection by representatives of different phage clades KU Leuven
Detailed knowledge of the progression of bacteriophage infection has been limited to few model bacteriophages, mostly infecting Escherichia coli, as well as the results of low throughput and increasingly antiquated methods. However, state-of-the-art approaches now make it possible to explore decades of interest in the transcriptional strategies of phage as well as how they affect host transcription and metabolism, now re-sparked by ...