Amsterdam Microbiome Initiative
These cover high resolution microscopy, omics technologies, specific culture systems to assess microbial physiology and system biology tools. AMI members collaborate at the UvA with the Research Priority Area Systems Biology (RPA-SB). The tools to be developed in the RPA-SB will be highly valuable to all members of the AMI as it focuses on combining the strengths of bottom-up and top-down systems biology approaches for modelling microbial communities as examples of complex biological systems.
AMSA meetings can be found in the SILS agenda.
Cooperation
AMI maintains close links with the Microbiota Centre Amsterdam at the Amsterdam UMC location AMC. AMI is meant as a platform and bottom-up organisation and therefore its exact composition is subject to regular update. If you feel your research will benefit from joining let us know!
Contact
Prof. Stanley Brul is coordinating the AMI.
Contact AMI via SILS-SECR-Science@uva.nl
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AMI news
May 2021
On 27 May Zhiwei Tu succesfully defended his thesis entitled 'Proteome dynamics and heat resistance in Bacillus subtilis spores'. promoter Prof. S. Brul; co-promoter Dr G. Kramer.
New UvA Research Priority Area Personal Microbial Health
January 2021
The UvA has appointed a novel interfaculty Research Priority Area: Personal Microbial Health (PMH). Interfaculty research priority areas have the aim of stimulating innovation at the UvA by bringing together various disciplines from across faculty boundaries. Partners involved include ACTA, Amsterdam UMC, and the UvA Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences and Faculty of Science. Several AMI groups will contribute.
NWA Idea Generator grant for Meike Wortel
July 2020
Dr Meike Wortel have been awarded an NWA Idea Generator grant of €50K to study evolution in the infant gut microbiome. The summary of the proposal: "Our body consists of similar numbers of human and microbial cells, and while human cells cannot evolve within our life-time, fast-growing microorganisms do. Is their evolution important or are they replaced by strains from the environment? This study will reveal the prevalence of evolution in the infant gut microbiome."
Patent for for use of microalgae to improve plant growth
March 2020
The Molecular Biology and Microbial Food Safety group has been collaborating with the company Algae Innovations Netherlands for some time now on the identification of the mechanism of plant growth promotion by microalgae. The organisms are harvested from raceway ponds (both open field and greenhouse based) in which there is a natural variety of algae and other microorganisms coexisting as one consortium. The collaboration of both parties started in the framework of an EFRO sponsored project and later continued with POP-3 funding. The work confirmed the plant growth promoting effect and aims to unravel some of the mechanistic ingredients for this beneficial interaction. The commercially interesting parts have now been covered in a patent that describes the way of cultivation of the microalgae, their physiological characteristics and provides a number of case studies including both ornamental plants and crops. The studies have been made possible by close collaboration with groups in the Green Life-Sciences cluster of SILS.