Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
The Technical University of Denmark (DTU) covers technical and natural sciences and has 4,500 employees, 1,050 PhD students and approx 6,500 bachelor and master students. The university has a very strong research profile in biotechnology and chemical (bio-) engineering and herein research focuses on areas such as microbial genetics, synthetic biology, systems biology, bio-refinery and microbial evolution. Department of Systems Biology focuses on research and education in fundamental biological areas (cellular processes, synthetic biology, evolution and biological diversity) and related industrial relevant processes (fermentation, modelling). Microbiology is a key research area and one of the microbiology research groups is the Bacterial Ecophysiology and Biotechnology (BEB) group that is partnering in the present project. We study ecology and physiology of aquatic microorganisms with the aim of controlling unwanted bacteria (pathogens and spoilage bacteria). A key focus is finding novel antibacterial compounds, in particular from marine microorganisms.
Contact person: Lone Gram (gram@bio.dtu.dk)
Website: www.dtu.dk
Role of DTU in MaCuMBA:
The Bacterial Ecophysiology and Biotechnology Group (BEB) at DTU-FOOD will lead WP7. In WP2, BEB will provide access to a global collection of antibacterial marine bacteria, as well as novel collections. BEB will work on using natural substrates such as chitin and algal polymers for improving cultivation. In WP3, BEB will contribute by culturing already isolated microorganisms on natural substrates to induce the silent bioactive pathways as revealed by genome sequencing. In WP5, BEB will contribute with work improving cultivation by use of AHL compounds in marine bacteria and the marine environment and in WP7, BEB will be responsible for management and coordination and will work on antibiotic and anti-fouling screens as well as screening procedures for antivirulence targets. BEB will contribute to dissemination and communication (WP9).
Profile of staff engaged in the project:
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Prof. Dr. Lone Gram obtained her PhD in microbiology from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University (Denmark) in 1989. For the past 11 years, she has been a professor in aquatic microbiology and hygiene and is currently a tenured professor at DTU. She has specialized in bacterial ecophysiology focusing on bacteria of aquatic (marine) origin. The past 10 years a key focus area has been bioactivity of marine bacteria such as Roseobacter, Pseudoalteromonas and Vibrionaceae and the possible biotechnological application of marine natural products. She is also an editor of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. |
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Mariane Schmidt holds a PhD in microbiology and biotechnology from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark. She has worked for several years in research in the field of extremophilic aquatic bacteria with industrial potential. She has mainly focused on the discovery of novel hydrolytic enzymes, using both classical growth dependent assays and high-throughput methods. For the past three years Mariane has had a postdoctoral fellowship as a molecular biologist working on mutagenesis and expression of virulence factors in E. coli, but now – being employed in Lone Gram’s research group at Technical University of Denmark (DTU) Systemsbiology – she is returning to aquatic microbiology. As part of the MaCuMBA project she will investigate and develop isolation, culturing, and screening techniques regarding optimisation of production of bioactive compounds in marine bacteria. |
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Eva Sonnenschein has received her PhD in Marine Microbiology from Jacobs University Bremen and Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in 2011. For the past two years, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego investigating the secondary metabolism of microalgae. In 2013, Eva joined Lone Gram's group at DTU to explore the bioactive potential of marine bacteria. Her experiences range from oceanographic profiling, experimental design and metabolic engineering to biochemical and bioinformatic analysis. Coming from an aquatic ecology background, Eva strives to understand the molecular basics of microbial interactions with the goal to predict community adaption in the future. Eva works on two EU marine biotech projects: MaCuMBA and PharmaSea. |
