Harnessing the potential of Archaea - Training Europe's next visionaries for an innovative and sustainable future

利用古生菌的潜力 - 培训欧洲的下一代有远见的人以实现创新和可持续的未来

• 批准号: EP/Y031407/1
• 负责人: Bertram Daum
• 金额: $ 66.43万
• 依托单位: UNIVERSITY OF EXETER
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2024 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=EP%2FY031407%2F1
• 关键词: Harnessing; potential; Archaea; Training; Europe

Archaea form one of the three domains of life, next to bacteria and eukaryotes. Archaea have unique cellular characteristics that allow them to thrive in extreme environments, for example at high pressures, salt concentrations or temperatures. Although their biochemical and metabolic properties show great potential for a wide range of biotechnological applications, our lack of knowledge about the structure and function of the archaeal cell surface and its role in formation of communities, such as biofilms, is currently hampering the large-scale industrial use of these organisms. Indeed, several prominent questions remain unanswered due to the small scientific community working in the field, and the lack of methods and technologies enabling research under extreme conditions. ARCTECH proposes the first training initiative on archaea, aiming to foster the next generation of European visionaries in 'fundamental archaeal research and their application in biotechnology'. The 11 Doctoral Candidates (DCs) will address key knowledge gaps and develop methods and technologies for archaeal research, which are needed to unleash the industrial potential that archaea hold. The scientific outcomes of ARCTECH will be applicable to several biotech areas, such as Green Energy production, Sustainable Biomaterials, Biocorrosion, Enzyme production and Drug Delivery. This project will directly impact the European Higher Education Sector as the first research training initiative embarking into the unchartered world of archaea. The DCs will be trained by world experts from European academic and industrial institutions, benefiting from strong interdisciplinary exposure (e.g. microbiology, bioimaging, biogas production). These entrepreneurial, innovative, and resilient DCs will be of great value both to the academic and non-academic sectors, bringing unique capacity to inspire/spawn new fields of innovation in European industries.

古生菌是生命的三个领域之一，仅次于细菌和真核生物。古生菌具有独特的细胞特征，使它们能够在极端环境中茁壮成长，例如在高压、盐浓度或温度下。尽管它们的生化和代谢特性显示出广泛的生物技术应用的巨大潜力，但我们对古生菌细胞表面的结构和功能及其在生物膜等群落形成中的作用缺乏了解，目前正在阻碍这些微生物的大规模工业应用。事实上，一些突出的问题仍然没有得到回答，因为在该领域工作的科学界很小，而且缺乏能够在极端条件下进行研究的方法和技术。Arctech提出了首个关于古生菌的培训计划，旨在培养下一代欧洲远见卓识的人，他们将从事“基础古生物研究及其在生物技术中的应用”。11名博士生(DC)将解决关键的知识差距，并开发古生物研究的方法和技术，这是释放古生菌所具有的产业潜力所必需的。Arctech的科学成果将适用于几个生物技术领域，如绿色能源生产、可持续生物材料、生物腐蚀、酶生产和药物输送。该项目将直接影响欧洲高等教育部门，作为进入未知古生物世界的第一个研究培训倡议。发展中国家将接受来自欧洲学术和工业机构的世界专家的培训，受益于强大的跨学科接触(例如微生物学、生物成像、沼气生产)。这些富有创业精神、创新精神和韧性的DC将对学术和非学术部门都具有重要价值，带来激发/催生欧洲工业创新新领域的独特能力。