Research

Algal Biotechnology

Algal Biotechnology

Addressing the climate crisis is the priority of our times. We have reached a common understanding that reducing greenhouse gass emissions will not be sufficient. New innovation for carbon capture and sequestration or utilization (CCSU) is now mandated for reaching our net-zero sustainability goals. The M2RG is actively addressing this from a biotechnology persective through multiple research and educational activities:

• Industrial scale CO2 capture cold-adapted diatoms in northern Norway - The Finnfjord Project
• EcoTech4CCU - Professional workshop and student training on biotechnology for CCSU from ecosystem inspired solutions 

• Heterotrophic cultivation using organic waste - investigating carbohydrate-based heterotrophic algae growth as an alternative to photosynthetic-based biotechnology. The M2RG is investigating the utility of industrial organic waste in a circular economy model by employing bioprocess engineering in combination with integrated multi-omics, and synthetic biology.

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Marine Microbiomes

Marine Microbiomes

The Arctic marine environment is warming at an unprecedented rate, which makes its native biota vulnerable to extinction and invasion. Of specific concern are changing microbial (phyto)-plankton habitats, which underpin major portions of the global carbon cycle and marine ecosystem functioning.

Why is this important? Shifts in marine microbiome structure and function can perturb and reshape marine ecosystems. This can be acute and rapid; such as the effects caused by harmful algae blooms. Marine ecosystems are also undergoing slow, constant and likely permanent changes due to human activities.

The M2RG uses a combination of culture-independent multi-omics and model microbial consortia to better understand the ecological principles that underpin community succession and metabolic interactions between the prokaryotes and microeukaryotes that inhabit cold, marine environments. In addition, we recognize that there is much to be gained by reconciling these ecological processes with new engineering design principles for innovating new biotechnologies.

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Synthetic Biology

Synthetic Biology

Observing nature to engineer it.  The M2RG has a joint focus on natural microbial ecosystems and biodesign. As we say, there is much to be gained by reconciling ecological processes with new engineering design principles. This holds true in our efforts to design and program the behavior of non-traditional microbial hosts.

Modern synthetic biology relies on the principle that well-characterized genetic parts and can be reused and reconfigured for different functions. However, this paradigm has only been successful to-date in a limited number of hosts, mostly comprised from common lab strains. We recognize that new microbial hosts will expand the scope of synthetic biology and are working to understand the fundamental science required develop ´broad-host-range´ tools for programming and controlling microbial functions.

Our focus on biodesign applies to:

• Engineering microbial communities
• Marine Biotechnology (CCSU, biosensing and remediation)
• Directed evolution platforms

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ABSORB

ABSORB

ABSORB – Arctic Carbon Storage from Biomes is a UiT strategic project designed establish new biotechnologies that harness biology unique to Arctic biomes for carbon draw-down. ABSORB is a partnership between UiT’s Research Groups Microalgae & Microbiomes, Microorganisms & Plants and Natural Products and Medicinal Chemistry with the Salk Institute for Biological Studies (USA) and the Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (Nibio). 

 Goals:

1. Gain a mechanistic understanding of how select Arctic microbial communities and plants convert CO2 and/or CH4 into “long-lived” organic bioproducts that can be stored in soils and in the ocean.
2. Translate natural principles of ecological carbon drawdown into biotechnology and microbial biodesign principles that support both “blue” (ocean) and “green” (land) sustainable food, feed and bioproducts.

 

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People

Lars DalheimResearcher

Lars Dalheim  –  Researcher

Contact:

Position: Researcher

E-mail: lda014@post.uit.no

Work phone: +4777646345

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Daniela Morales-SanchezAssociate Professor

Daniela Morales-Sanchez  –  Associate Professor

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Position: Associate Professor

E-mail: daniela.m.sanchez@uit.no

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Ingeborg Hulda GiæverPrincipal Engineer

Ingeborg Hulda Giæver  –  Principal Engineer

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Position: Principal Engineer

E-mail: ingeborg.h.giaver@uit.no

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Jon Brage SvenningResearcher

Jon Brage Svenning  –  Researcher

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Position: Researcher

E-mail: jon.b.svenning@uit.no

Work phone: +4777646170

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Nerea Johanna AaltoDoctoral Research Fellow

Nerea Johanna Aalto  –  Doctoral Research Fellow

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Position: Doctoral Research Fellow

E-mail: nerea.j.aalto@uit.no

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Richard Andre IngebrigtsenSenior researcher

Richard Andre Ingebrigtsen  –  Senior researcher

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Position: Senior researcher

E-mail: richard.a.ingebrigtsen@uit.no

Work phone: +4777644476

Private phone: 91716895

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Dennis Tin Chat ChanPhD Student

Dennis Tin Chat Chan  –  PhD Student

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Position: PhD Student

E-mail: dennis.chan@uit.no

Work phone: +4777644449

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Sebastian Petterssenior engineer

Sebastian Petters  –  senior engineer

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Position: senior engineer

E-mail: sebastian.petters@uit.no

Work phone: +4777646299

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Hannah SchweitzerPostdoctoral Fellow

Hannah Schweitzer  –  Postdoctoral Fellow

Research interests:

~ Current Research Interests ~
* Bioremediation using Marine Algae
* Bacterial and Algae Interactions and Microbiome
* Carbon Cycling
* Active Microbial Communities
* Biotechnologies

~ Methods and Techniques ~
* Metagenomics and Transciptomics
* Targetting Active Microbial Fractions
       * DNA-SIP and BONCAT
* Bioreactors

Contact:

Position: Postdoctoral Fellow

E-mail: hannah.schweitzer@uit.no

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Hans Christopher Bernstein Engineering, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology (Group leader)

Hans Christopher Bernstein  –   Engineering, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology

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Position: Engineering, Microbiology, Systems Biology, Synthetic Biology

E-mail: hans.c.bernstein@uit.no

Work phone: +4777646114

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Linn IsraelsenPrincipal Engineer

Linn Israelsen  –  Principal Engineer

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Position: Principal Engineer

E-mail: linn.j.kristiansen@uit.no

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Gunilla EriksenDepartment Engineer

Gunilla Eriksen  –  Department Engineer

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Position: Department Engineer

E-mail: gunilla.eriksen@uit.no

Work phone: +4777644529

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Stina KrsmanovicHead Engineer

Stina Krsmanovic  –  Head Engineer

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Position: Head Engineer

E-mail: stina.krsmanovic@uit.no

Work phone: +4777644425

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Publications

2022

Beck, A.E., Pintar, K., Schepens, D., Schrammeck, A., Johnson, T., Bleem, A., Du, M., Harcombe, W.R.,  Bernstein, H. C., Heys, J.J., Gedeon, T., Carlson, R.P.* (2022). Environment constrains fitness advantages of divsion of labor in microbial consortia engineered for metabolite push or pull interactions. bioRxiv pre-print. https://doi.org/10.1101/2022.01.19.477024 

2021

Aalto, N. J., Campbell, K., Eilertsen, H. C., Bernstein, H. C.* (2021). Drivers of Atmosphere-Ocean CO2 Flux in Northern Norwegian Fjords. Frontiers in Marine Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.692093

Schweitzer, H.D., Aalto, N.J., Busch, W., Chan, D.T.C., Chiesa, M., Elvevoll, E.O., Gerlach, R., Krause, K., Mocaer, K., Moran, J.J., Noel, J.P., Patil, S.K., Schwab, Y., Wijffels, R.H., Wulff, A., Øvreås, L., Bernstein, H.C.* (2021) Innovating carbon capture biotechnologies through ecosystem inspired solutions. One Earth. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oneear.2020.12.006

Dalheim, L.*, Svenning, J.B., Olsen, R.L. (2021) In vitro intestinal digestion of lipids from the marine diatom Porosira glacialis compared to commercial LC n-3 PUFA products. Plos one. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252125

Dalheim, L.*, Svenning, J.B., Eilertsen, H.C., Vasskog, T. and Olsen, R.L. (2021). Stability of lipids during wet storage of the marine diatom Porosira glacialis under semi-preserved conditions at 4 and 20 C. Journal of Applied Phycology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10811-020-02292-0

Osvik, R. D.*, Andersen, J.H., Eilertsen, H.C., Geneviere, A.-M., Hansen, E. H. (2021). Bioactivity of a Marine Diatom (Porosira glacialis [Grunow] Jörgensen 1905) Cultivated With and Without Factory Smoke CO2. Industrial Biotechnology. http://doi.org/10.1089/ind.2020.0031

Osvik, R. D.*, Ingebrigtsen, R.A., Norrbin, M.F., Andersen, J.H., Eilertsen, H.C., Hansen, E.H. (2021). Adding Zooplankton to the OSMAC Toolkit: Effect of Grazing Stress on the Metabolic Profile and Bioactivity of a Diatom. Marine Drugs. https://doi.org/10.3390/md19020087

2020

Morales-Sánchez, D.*, Schulze, P.S., Kiron, V. and Wijffels, R.H. 2020. Temperature-dependent lipid accumulation in the polar marine microalga Chlamydomonas malina RCC2488. Frontiers in plant science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2020.619064

Svenning, J.B.*, Dalheim, L., Vasskog, T., Matricon, L., Vang, B., Olsen, R. L . Lipid yield from the diatom Porosira glacialis is determined by solvent choice and number of extractions, independent of cell disruption. (2020) Scientific reports. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-79269-z

Khan, N., Yeung, E., Farris, Y., Fansler, S. J., & Bernstein, H. C.* (2020). A broad-host-range event detector: expanding and quantifying performance between Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas species. Synthetic Biology. https://doi.org/10.1093/synbio/ysaa002

Kessell, A.K., McCullough, H.C., Auchtung, J.M., Bernstein, H.C., Song, H-S.* (2020). Predictive interactome modelling for precision microbiome engineering. Current Opinion in Chemical Engineering. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coche.2020.08.003

Zupanic, A., Bernstein, H. C., & Heiland, I. (2020). Systems biology: current status and challenges. Cellular and Molecular Life Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00018-019-03410-z

Lee, J-Y, Haruta, S., Kato, S., Bernstein, H.C., Lindemann, S.R., Lee, D-Y., Fredrickson, J.K., & Song, H-S.* (2020). Prediction of Neighbor-dependent Microbial Interactions from Limited Population Data. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.03049

2019

Bernstein, H.C.* (2019). Reconciling engineering and ecological design principles for building microbiomes. mSystems. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00106-19

Svenning, J. B.*, Dalheim, L., Eilertsen, H. C., & Vasskog, T. (2019). Temperature dependent growth rate, lipid content and fatty acid composition of the marine cold-water diatom Porosira glacialis. Algal research. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2018.10.009

Zengler, K., Hofmockel, K., Baliga, N.S., Behie, S.W., Bernstein, H.C., Brown, J.B., Dinney, J.R., Folge, S.A., Forry, S.P., Hess, M., Jackson, S.A., Jansson, C., Lindemann, S.R., Pett-Ridge, J., Maranas, C., Venturelli, O.S., Wallenstein, M.D., Shank, E.A., Northen, T.R.* (2019) EcoFABS: advancing microbiome science through standardized fabricated ecosystems. Nature Methods. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41592-019-0465-0 

Zegeye, E.K., Brislawn, J.C., Farris, Y., Fansler, S.J., Hofmockel, K.S., Jansson, J.K., Wright, A.T., Graham, E.B., Naylor, D., McClure, R.S.*, Bernstein, H.C.* (2019). Selection, succession and stabilization of soil microbial consortia. mSystems. https://doi.org/10.1128/mSystems.00055-19

Song, H-S.*, Lee, J-Y, Haruta, S., Nelson, W.C., Lee, D-Y., Lindemann, S.R., Fredrickson, J.K., Bernstein, H.C. (2019). Minimal Interspecies Interaction Adjustment (MIIA): inference of member-dependent interactions in microbiomes. Frontiers in Microbiology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2019.01264

Brislawn, J.C., Graham, E.B., Dana, K., Ihardt, P., Fansler, S.J., Chrisler, W.B., Cliff, J.B., Stegen, J.C., Moran, J.J.*, Bernstein, H.C.* (2019). Forfeiting the priority effect: turnover defines biofilm community succession. The ISME Journal. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-019-0396-x

 Linn, V.S., Volk, R.F., DeLeon, A.J., Anderson, L.N., Purvine, S.O., Shukla, A.K., Bernstein, H.C., Smith, J.N., Wright, A.T.* (2019). Structure dependent determination of organophosphate targets in mammalian tissues using activity-based protein profiling. Chemical Research in Toxicology. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.9b00344