The working group Environmental Biotechnology at the IFA Tulln offers a master thesis opportunity with scheduled start for September 2020 (as long as the current Corona situation allows it). You can find the details below.

Exposure of cyanobacteria to stress conditions to determine changes in their PHB-productivity

Plastics have become an indispensable part of our lives. However, the worldwide pollution of our planet with plastic waste has reached a level that is no longer tolerable. Among many other measures, the use of biodegradable plastics could counteract this. However, for most biobased plastics the ethical question arises to which extent the use of agricultural land for the production of plastic raw materials is justifiable. One solution is the production of the fully biodegradable polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) by cyanobacteria from CO2 with light as energy source. The PHB is stored in the cell as a carbon source, while amount and synthesis rate are influenced by the growing conditions.
In order to better understand this kinetics it is necessary to investigate the influencing factors in more detail: the effect of stress factors of choice are temperature, pH-value or heavy metals for example. Thematically, the master thesis is located in the fields of microbiology and biotechnology. The experimental laboratory work is based on phototrophic Synechocystis cultivation, chemical, biochemical and molecular analysis and design of experiments.

The venue is Tulln, the duration of the practical work is limited to 6 months. Start of the master thesis is scheduled for September. Because of the current Corona situation, changes about the start of the thesis are possible.

If you are interested, please contact
Christina Daffert, MSc
E-Mail: christina.daffert@boku.ac.at