MSc thesis project advertisement
Names of the supervisors: Alexander Eiler (UiO), Franck Lejzerowicz (UiO)
Collaborators: Tam Tran (Norce), Odd Gunnar Wikmark (Norce)
Preferred project period: September 2023 – June 2025
Background
Plastics and elastomers are used in almost every aspect of human life, and the world now produces more than 380 million tons of these anthropogenic materials annually, causing severe pollution worldwide (Roser, 2022). In the environment, plastic and elastomer debris undergo fragmentation due to weathering, leading to the generation of microscopic particles.(MPs) These MPs attract bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms that adhere on their surfaces. This new human-made ecosystem is referred to as the plastisphere (Zettler et al., 2013).
Due to their lightweight nature, MPs travel in the marine environment over vast geographic distances. As a result, the microbial biofilms linked to the MPs can widely disperse. Therefore, understanding MP-associated biofilm formation and community succession, which shape biodiversity and community composition on microplastics is required for further assess the ecological risks posed by plastisphere microbial communities. The bacterial communities found on MPs have a different structure and composition from those found in the surrounding water and sediments. Findings also demonstrated that the biogeochemical activities, metabolic pathways, and lifestyles of the microbial populations on microplastics differ from those of the surrounding seawater.
Antibiotics are frequent in streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans, and often found associated with human sewage sources (Wang et al., 2020; Barnes et al., 2009). Antibiotics and antibiotic resistant bacteria can adsorb to the hydrophobic surfaces of MPs. MPs thus could potential change the selection pressure for antibiotics (Wang et al., 2020). It is still not known if MPs can drive development of antimicrobial resistance (Li et al., 2018; Potts et al., 2022).
Project description
In this project, the student will carry out translocation experiments and characterize microbial communities and antibiotic resistance using molecular methods. The student will investigate MP community spread antimicrobial resistance.
Learning outcomes
In addition to critical thinking and report writing, the student will develop skills in experimental design, DNA metabarcoding and metagenomics, bioinformatics and multivariate analysis. The project includes laboratory work at UiO and field work in the Oslojord area.
What we offer
We offer an inclusive and stimulating research environment where the student is encouraged to join the research group activities and engage with other students and researchers in the group.
If you are interested
Please contact alexander.eiler@ibv.uio.no