Bioengineering (Pr Iwona Cybulska & Pr Patrick Gerin)
Research performed in our group covers several aspects of bioengineering in the field of biorefining and environmental biotechnology:
- Characterization of feedstocks to be valorised (e.g. lignocellulosic biomass, halophytic species or bio-waste) and (bio)processed materials; waste, contaminated soil and water to be bioremediated.
- Biorefining – biomass processing to produce a wide range of bio-based products (with minimal waste generation and maximal value):
Upstream processing - physico-chemical and biological treatments applied to fractionate biomass and generate intermediates (e.g. organosolv delignification, extraction, “electro-fractionation”, enzymatic hydrolysis);
Conversion and fermentation processes (with chemical, enzymatic and biological catalysts), applied to produce high-value bio-based chemicals, fuel & fuel additives, food additives and purified botanical extracts;
Downstream processing - physical and chemical refining process to recover, purify and valorise the synthesised bioproducts.
Brewery Science (Pr Sonia Collin)
The team is active in the improvement of flavour stability through ageing (impact of raw materials, manufacturing and processes). This objective requires the knowledge of the chemical and biochemical pathways leading to food flavours (e.g. beer, chocolate, wine or honey). Odorant poly-functional thiols, stale aldehydes, Madeira-like lactones and norisoprenoid-derived molecules are mainly investigated. A large part of the activity is focused on the structures and properties (in vitro activity and health-potential) of new antioxidants, mainly polyphenols (flavanoïds and resveratrol analogues) and melanoidins. With the aim of improving extraction methods of aroma, part of our job is also devoted to the mechanisms responsible for their retention in food. Other research topics of the brewing area are also investigated such as hop chemistry and dry hopping, mycotoxins and yeast activity.
Food and Environmental Microbiology (Pr Jacques Mahillon)
Our research focuses on the molecular studies of the genetic and genomic plasticity among members of the Bacillus cereus group (including the food contaminant B. cereus, the biopesticide B. thuringiensis and the pathogen B. anthracis), and the contribution of mobile genetic elements (IS and Tn), conjugative plasmids and phages to their genomic flexibility and differential virulence. Our research is also dedicated to the development of strategies to control the development of foodborne and plant (collaboration with Pr Bragard & Legrève) pathogens, using GRAS (Generally Recognised As Save) bacteria, antimicrobial molecules and bacteriophages. More recently, our activities have also been involved in the isolation and molecular characterization, and metagenomic studies of bacterial and archaeal microbiota from food matrices, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, surface and drinking water and wastewater treatment plants.
Phytopathology (Pr Anne Legrève and Pr Claude Bragard)
One of the most challenging and intriguing question in plant pathology is to understand how plant pathogens interact with both their host plant and the environment (including vectors and other micro-organisms) in order to provoke major diseases, sometimes turning to epidemics. Such knowledge is used to stimulate and foster innovative strategies and technologies for a sustainable biological control of tropical and temperate plant diseases caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses.
Our team develops diagnostic tools to monitor plant diseases caused by these biotic agents and to predict epidemics. We study pathogenesis, biotic interaction and epidemiology of plant diseases. We characterize the biodiversity of populations involved in the various patho-systems in order to improve their control using environmentally friendly strategies.
Via our extension services, we provide cutting-edge advices on plant diseases and control strategies to producers and consumers, in close connection with both research and training.
Mycology (Pr Stephan Declerck)
The laboratory of mycology combines basic research with applied research, based on an exceptional heritage of 30 000 living strains representing more than 1200 genera and 4000 species, preserved within the BCCM/MUCL collection. Two pillars structure the research activities: agri-food mycology, which studies the role of fungi in food production processes; and agri-environmental mycology, which concentrates on four major thematics: (1) taxonomy, phylogeny and biodiversity of fungi in natural (e.g. canopies of tropical forests, flowers…), as well as anthropized (e.g. agricultural crops) environments; (2) studies of trophic chains and host-pathogen or symbiont-host relationships at physiological and molecular levels (e.g. arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi); (3) use of fungi in bio-stimulation of plants (e.g. potato, maize, wheat, banana), bio-protection towards biotic (e.g. plant pests and diseases) and abiotic (e.g. drought, salinity) stresses as well as bio-remediation of contaminated soil (e.g. degradation of PAHs); (4) production of fungal bio-effectors.