Summary
Bacteria abound in the soil, contributing to major global geocycles and plant growth. Bioaugmentation, the stimulation or tuning of this natural microbiome to optimize its function for human gain, has recently been used with success to manipulate biological interactions. However, we lack the understanding of the impact of bacteria on the physics of soil that would be necessary to direct bioaugmentation toward abiotic goals such as limiting water loss to drying – one fifth of all water deposited on land is rapidly lost back to the atmosphere by this process. Using novel experimental and theoretical approaches, BACTODRY will bring bioaugmentation for reduced drying toward feasibility by harnessing the control bacteria exert on macroscale drying via alteration of the physico-chemistry of the numerous microscopic air–water interfaces in a drying porous soil. We will develop microfluidic devices capturing features of air–water interfaces at the scale of one to a few pores while giving unprecedented access to bacterial and interfacial dynamics at the microscale (WP1–2), and use them to gain quantitative insight into the bio-physico-chemical couplings that set fluid flows and evaporative rate. How these microscale relations upscale will be tested in granular column experiments, shedding light on interface dynamics in complex 3D structures (WP3). We will then develop an in situ selective chip for isolating natural bacteria that impact drying (WP4). Building on the insights gained in WP1–4, we will demonstrate how soil can be bioaugmented with bacteria selected from the environment to achieve reduced evaporative drying in the field (WP5). BACTODRY’s novel methods and insights will have far-reaching impacts on our understanding of natural surface-active molecules, the study of microbial life in unsaturated soil and its impact on natural cycles, and the development of novel bioaugmentation tools grounded in the biophysical coupling between microbial life and abiotic phase.
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More information & hyperlinks
| Web resources: | https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101165188 |
| Start date: | 01-09-2025 |
| End date: | 31-08-2030 |
| Total budget - Public funding: | 1 498 436,25 Euro - 1 498 436,00 Euro |
Cordis data
Original description
Bacteria abound in the soil, contributing to major global geocycles and plant growth. Bioaugmentation, the stimulation or tuning of this natural microbiome to optimize its function for human gain, has recently been used with success to manipulate biological interactions. However, we lack the understanding of the impact of bacteria on the physics of soil that would be necessary to direct bioaugmentation toward abiotic goals such as limiting water loss to drying – one fifth of all water deposited on land is rapidly lost back to the atmosphere by this process. Using novel experimental and theoretical approaches, BACTODRY will bring bioaugmentation for reduced drying toward feasibility by harnessing the control bacteria exert on macroscale drying via alteration of the physico-chemistry of the numerous microscopic air–water interfaces in a drying porous soil. We will develop microfluidic devices capturing features of air–water interfaces at the scale of one to a few pores while giving unprecedented access to bacterial and interfacial dynamics at the microscale (WP1–2), and use them to gain quantitative insight into the bio-physico-chemical couplings that set fluid flows and evaporative rate. How these microscale relations upscale will be tested in granular column experiments, shedding light on interface dynamics in complex 3D structures (WP3). We will then develop an in situ selective chip for isolating natural bacteria that impact drying (WP4). Building on the insights gained in WP1–4, we will demonstrate how soil can be bioaugmented with bacteria selected from the environment to achieve reduced evaporative drying in the field (WP5). BACTODRY’s novel methods and insights will have far-reaching impacts on our understanding of natural surface-active molecules, the study of microbial life in unsaturated soil and its impact on natural cycles, and the development of novel bioaugmentation tools grounded in the biophysical coupling between microbial life and abiotic phase.Status
SIGNEDCall topic
ERC-2024-STGUpdate Date
21-11-2024
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