WP2 - Natural consortia for learning and production

Several environmental samples from different geographical areas, covering a large diversity of habitats (e.g., marshland, forest soil, river sediments, plant roots, constructed wetland, and urban ponds) were collected and characterised in terms of their physicochemical and morphological properties aiming to identify those with ability to synthesise the target products, PHA, EPS and/or PPP.

The selected microbiomes were subjected to selective pressures for enrichment in microorganisms capable of producing PHA, EPS and/or PPP. Advanced biomolecular techniques based on 16S rRNA gene amplification were used to validate the selective pressure applied to the collected field environmental samples and to identify microorganisms in the evolved microbiomes. The obtained bioproducts were characterised.

The best-performing microbiomes are being cultured in production bioreactors to maximise yield and efficiency. The simultaneous production of PHA and EPS by cyanobacteria was explored, and a scale-up experiment was conducted using a 3-liter photobioreactor (PBR) with a dual-cycle approach. For PHA production by heterotrophic organisms, a Physics-Informed Neural Network (PINN) approach was used for the first time to define the optimal set of control parameter values towards maximum PHA production by a microbiome evolved from marshland river sediments. An EPS producer was isolated from the same natural microbiome and, upon bioreactor cultivation, it reached a high production of an EPS rich in glucosamine, presenting gelling capacity and the ability to form/stabilise emulsions with almond, olive and sunflower oils.