Plastic degrading enzymes PhD project

Project Information: Creating a sustainable cross-border agro-Ecosystem through root microbiome biodiversity

Our project, named CEDRIC (Creating Ecosystem bioDiveRsity with mICrobiomes) focuses on the preservation and restoration of diverse microbial communities associated with local crops. We will achieve this goal by replacing the concept of synthetic communities, which are usually only made up of a few isolates, with approaches to transplant entire diverse rhizosphere microbiomes.

CEDRIC aims to strengthen soils that have lost their fertility by restoring their microbiological biodiversity. Diverse microbiomes are essential in reestablishing soils to sustain agricultural plant growth. Inspired by the success of human microbiome transplantations, CEDRIC aims to transplant diverse microbiomes of healthy plant roots into poor and exploited soils. The diverse microbiomes will improve soil structure, increase nutrient density, and raise overall soil carbon levels. Based on preliminary studies showing the potential of this technique, CEDRIC will translate this approach from research benches to farms and fields. A successful implementation of CEDRIC will allow a reduction of chemical fertiliser use, reducing the environmental impact of standard agricultural practices. Our cross-border cooperation provides the required skills and expertise to successfully carry out the proposed research and to create a cross-border platform of stakeholders to discuss and share bottom-up approaches and experiences. A forum will be created as a platform to strengthen the agricultural and biotech community via the creation of manuals of Good Agricultural Practices.