Research Group Protistology & Aquatic Ecology (PAE)
The Protistology and Aquatic Ecology (PAE) laboratory has over 20 years of experience in fundamental and applied research in marine and freshwater ecology and microbial diversity. The lab has state-of-the-art facilities including high-end imaging tools to monitor microbial growth and physiological status, bioreactors, molecular labs and growth chambers. The PAE laboratory hosts the ISO 9001 accredited BCCM/DCG culture collection (http://bccm.belspo.be/about-us/bccm-dcg). It has many years of experience in collaborating with start-up and established companies as well as with governmental bodies.
The research within the Protistology and Aquatic Ecology laboratory focuses on the following main themes:
- Understanding present and past microbial diversity and function in marine and freshwater ecosystems and use this knowledge to assess ecosystem health and predict responses to global change;
- Understanding of the biology and physiology of diatoms and other microalgae to develop novel biotechnological applications by strain improvement;
- Investigating microbial interactions to identify novel signaling mechanisms and to use these to increase industrial algae production;
- Incorporation of ecological principles in the development of novel technologies to valorize wastewater streams.
The PAE lab has been instrumental in establishing a national monitoring of toxic blue algal blooms and is leading long-term monitoring of phytoplankton in the North Sea and the Scheldt Estuary. It has developed new non-model organisms for biological and biotechnological research of diatoms and is optimizing new methodologies for strain improvement based on genetic engineering and mitotic recombination.
