Rational design of microbial community mixtures for biogas production
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Biology
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
Technical Summary
We have recently shown that biogas production can be enhanced through mixing multiple microbial communities together. We propose to improve this process and assess its practical application in industrial settings. We will combine high throughput laboratory experiments, genetic and metabolomic profiling and modelling to identify community combinations and invasion conditions that will enhance reactor performance. We will use this information to conduct an industrial-scale trial, the results of which will be used to assess and refine the predictive power of lab-scale measures for improving the efficiency of industrial ADs. In addition to the clear applied benefits, the results will provide fundamental and novel insights into the dynamics of microbial "community coalescence", which are likely to have relevance for the enhancement of other biotechnological, remediation and agricultural processes
Planned Impact
The project seeks to enhance the efficiency of methane production from anaerobic digestion (AD) in industrial contexts through bio-augmentation. The work will have significant direct impact for the AD industry. Impact will primarily be realised through our industrial partner, Amur, who offer services to improve the efficiency of AD throughout the UK. Amur has been closely engaged in the co-design of the proposal and exploitation of the results thereof. They will conduct a controlled, replicated trial (objective 4) and offer advice and the bio-augmentation service to their clients. To this end, we will hold regular workshops in partnership with Amur to communicate our findings to participants in the industrial trial and the wider customer base and identify IP assets and products for exploitation. Most impact will occur towards the end of the grant, when the industrial trial is complete, yet Amur, and where relevant their client base, will provide input and guidance into the earlier experimental phases of the project. There is likely to be Intellectual Property (IP) associated with the project, notably the ability to select synergistic community combinations, and identifying and protecting this will be crucial for the application of the more refined methods. We will establish IP protection (by agreement with all partners) if the lab-based results are promising. The general approach could improve a range of biotechnologies involving microbial communities (e.g. bioremediation of contaminated soils and water), hence we will communicate the results through a broader stakeholder workshop involving existing contacts (notably water industries). Finally, we will communicate the work to the general public via a range of established activities through the Universities of Exeter and York.
People |
ORCID iD |
James Chong (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Shahi F
(2022)
Case Report: The effect of intravenous and oral antibiotics on the gut microbiome and breath volatile organic compounds over one year
in Wellcome Open Research
Shahi F
(2022)
Case Report: The effect of intravenous and oral antibiotics on the gut microbiome and breath volatile organic compounds over one year
in Wellcome Open Research
Shahi F
(2022)
Case Report: The effect of intravenous and oral antibiotics on the gut microbiome and breath volatile organic compounds over one year.
in Wellcome open research
Walker R
(2021)
Facilitating peer-led group research through virtual collaboration spaces: an exploratory research study
in Research in Learning Technology
Ibarra-Esparza FE
(2023)
Implementation of anaerobic digestion for valorizing the organic fraction of municipal solid waste in developing countries: Technical insights from a systematic review.
in Journal of environmental management
Saye LMG
(2021)
The Anaerobic Fungi: Challenges and Opportunities for Industrial Lignocellulosic Biofuel Production.
in Microorganisms
Innard N
(2022)
The challenges of monitoring and manipulating anaerobic microbial communities.
in Bioresource technology
Description | Collaboration with University of Exeter |
Organisation | AB Agri Ltd |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Private |
PI Contribution | MS analysis of samples plus resulting data analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | Collection of relevant experimental samples for analysis |
Impact | Collaborative research |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | Collaboration with University of Exeter |
Organisation | University of Exeter |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | MS analysis of samples plus resulting data analysis |
Collaborator Contribution | Collection of relevant experimental samples for analysis |
Impact | Collaborative research |
Start Year | 2020 |
Description | EBnet Collaboration |
Organisation | UK Environmental Biotechnology Network |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | James Chong and Sarah Forrester are active members within the EBnet Working Group. Through their work with EBnet they are able to publicise the Cloud-SPAN project, via sharing information and delivering talks at webinars. |
Collaborator Contribution | EBnet support and promote the training opportunities created through the Cloud-SPAN project. The collaboration also allows members to exchange expertise in the field of HPC driven microbial genomics research, which in turn improves the quality of the Cloud-SPAN training resources. |
Impact | James Chong and Sarah Forrester are active members within the EBnet Working Group. Through their work with EBnet they are able to publicise the Cloud-SPAN project, via sharing information and delivering talks at webinars. |
Start Year | 2021 |