Project MARPLAST
Marine bacteria for bioplastic production
Under ERA-NET Marine Biotechnology
Transnational Cooperation
Contract no. 13/2017
University of Bucharest
Department of Genetics
Budget 195.000EURO
Duration: 36 months (march 2017-february 2020)
Finance Agency: RO-UEFISCDI
Romanian Team
|
Tanase
Ana-Maria
|
Project responsible
from UB
|
|
Stoica Ileana
|
Senior researcher,
Prof. dr.
|
|
Senior researcher, Prof. dr.
|
|
|
Ionescu
Robertina
|
Postdoc
|
|
Sarbu
Ionela
|
Postdoc
|
|
Chiciudean
Iulia
|
PhD-student
|
|
Mereuta
Ioana
|
PhD-student
|
|
Olteanu
Amalia
|
Technician
|
|
Ionita Filuta
|
Financial responsible
|
PARTNERS
IN THE PROJECT
|
Name
of research organization
|
Short name
|
Organization type
|
Partner
responsible
|
|
UiT – the Arctic University of Norway
|
UiT
|
UNI
|
Prof.
Arne Smalas -project leader
|
|
Umea University
|
Uma
|
UNI
|
Prof.
Knut Irgum
|
|
University of Bucharest
|
UB
|
UNI
|
Assoc.
Prof. Ana-Maria Tanase
|
ABSTRACT
The steady increase in microplastic concentration could result in
dramatic effects on the vulnerable wildlife of the oceans and marine food
supplies. It is therefore of immediate importance to develop novel types of
polymeric materials that can be sustainably produced to address these
environmental concerns. MARPLAST focuses on polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), a
class of biodegradable bioplastics which are considered to be feasible
replacements for current petroleum-based plastics. PHAs are polymers occurring in
nature, produced among others by bacteria, and with properties similar to
oil-derived polypropylene and polyesters, rendering them useful as an
attractive biodegradable replacement. However, the naturally occurring PHA
production pathways are not sufficiently understood, and currently known
technologies for production are too costly to allow for a full-scale
replacement. MARPLAST aims to develop and provide tools (bacteria, enzymes, and
pathways) to enable efficient production of sustainable and biodegradable
bioplastics from low cost unexploited biomass. Focus will be on PHA-producing
cold-adapted marine bacteria, which have a range of properties that make them
especially suitable for industrial applications. MARPLAST will utilize
expertise from the Univ of Tromsø (Norway), Univ of Bucharest (Romania) and
Umeå University (Sweden) to make important progress and contributions to the
transition to a bio-based European economy.
On this focus of MARPLAST, Romanian Team will isolate new marine bacterial strains from Black
Sea, especially those with a high PHA production but will test also all marine
bacterial strains previously isolated and deposited to Microbial Collection of
Department of Genetics. Bacterial strains will be phenotypically characterized
using the Biolog Microbial Identification System and other usual
microbiological tests. On molecular level, identification will be based on 16S rDNA
sequences. Marine bacteria will be analyzed regarding PHA production by Red
Nile fluorescence intensity measurements, in order to establish the best cultivation
conditions for the highest production of PHA. Those conditions will be tested
also to a larger scale in bioreactor.
