Microbial strain quality for industrial application

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Industry makes extensive use of gene banks and microbial collections. The largest and qualitatively the best fungal collection in the world is housed at the Westerdijk Institute (CBS) in Utrecht, with a holding of ≈100,000 living strains. Some strains are originals dating back from the 19th century, the early days of microbiology. Obviously strains have to be re-investigated with modern techniques before they can successfully be applied.

In this project we focus on species with possible health implications as well as a potency for bioremediation in collaboration with our industrial partners Thermo Fisher Scientific and Dae Kwang Chemical.

The project will be basal to the development of innovative techniques for identification, and provide safe material to be used in bioremediation of oil-polluted sites and cleaning of industrial exhaust via biofiltration. Results will be used for the public database ‘Atlas of Clinical Fungi’, where classical strain data are augmented with data of modern techniques, and antifungal susceptibility data for direct clinical use.

Summary

The Westerdijk Institute in Utrecht houses the world’s largest collection of living fungi, with ≈100,000 strains. Many are originals and essential isolates going back to the time of Pasteur. However, for use in industrial projects they need to be re-investigated using modern, DNA- and protein-based technologies.

Technology Readiness Level (TRL)

2 - 6

Time period

12 months

Partners