Understanding Metal Accumulation and Tolerance Processes in Extremophile Microalgae for Bioremediation Potential

Project Description: (maximum of 4,000 characters)
Please make sure this description clearly indicates how the project sits within the BBSRC remit, how it enables new ways of working and how it aligns with the DTP themes (World Class Underpinning Biosciences, Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy or Agriculture and Food Security). If you have been awarded an in vivo skills supplement, please outline the in vivo skills the student will learn during the project.


The potential for using extremophile microalgae for biotechnology applications is significant but the characterisation and validation of these organisms for biotechnological use is lacking. This multi-disciplinary PhD project will address this gap in this important research topic. Strains of extremophile microalgae were identified from a mine environment that can tolerate very high acidity and very high concentrations of toxic metals. Studying these organisms will allow better understanding of the mechanisms of adaptation to extreme environments and provide details of potentially novel mechanisms of stress tolerance at the cellular and molecular level. There are also many applications and uses of these organisms to industrial biotechnology, such as pollutant bioremediation, metal recovery (metal bio-mining) and potentially also as a source of novel high-value chemicals. This project will aim to investigate the adaptive responses of the microalgae strains to AMD environments in order to understand (1) the molecular adaptation mechanisms to allow both tolerance and sequestration of the metal ions within the cell, (2) the details of subcellular localisation and chemical speciation characteristics of metals within the algal cell, and (3) the validation of using microalgal biomass for metal removal from contaminated waters in small-scale cultivation experiments. The outcomes from this exciting project will enhance our fundamental knowledge of metal-tolerant extremophile microalgae, and provide new understanding of environmental stress adaptation and metal accumulation mechanisms, which may in turn give rise to novel biotechnological applications for metal pollutant clean up and metal recycling. The project will study fundamental biochemical and cellular processes underlying the response to metal and acidity stress for selected microorganisms that will provide fundamental understanding of microbial life processes but also will allow evaluation of novel biotechnological applications for sustainable metal pollutant bioremediation practices. The functions of microorganisms in natural and polluted systems are fundamental to ecosystem behaviour. New depth of understanding of microalgal processes in response to metal pollution stress will improve development of novel bioremediation options for metal extraction and processing industries. The project will enhance fundamental knowledge of extremophile organisms, and provide new understanding of environmental stress adaptation mechanisms. The project will provide training in research skills including microalgal physiology and biochemistry, imaging and spectroscopy techniques.