This project will assess the use of bacteriophages in such a context, providing a proof of principle that could be applied in all open biological systems. Specifically, the project will involve (i) the development of culture/culture-independent methods to identify and isolate viruses of problem organisms; (ii) monitoring virus-problem host pairs in full-scale systems; and (iii) experiments to assess the effectiveness of isolated bacteriophage as interventions against foaming/bulking organisms. This ambitious project will thus give valuable hands-on experience in culture and culture-independent methods (e.g., flow cytometry, qPCR, 16s and genomic sequencing), scientific experimentation and bioinformatics and statistical analysis.
Last date to apply: 03/02/2023