UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA
Biotechnical Faculty
Department of Agronomy, Centre for Soil and Environmental Sciences
The Centre for Soil and Environmental Sciences is a part of the Department of Agronomy. It performs teaching and research activities, conducting various projects in the fields of agronomy, forestry, physical planning and sustainable use of natural resources. The Centre has its own research laboratory and infrastructure necessary for teaching and research at different levels: laboratory modelling, growth chambers, microcosm columns, greenhouses and pilot field experiments. It is a part of the Network of research infrastructural centres of the University of Ljubljana.
Department of Food Science and Technology, Chair of Microbiology
The Chair of Microbiology employs 5 PhD. Scientists, 2 technical assistants, 4 graduate students and several B. Sc. students.
Is main activity is investigation of the influence of physico-chemical parameters on the activity and structure of microbial communities (bacteria, archaea, viruses), which play an important role in transformation and fluxes of elements and substances in soil and aquatic ecosystems. Geomicrobiological processes, denitrification, nitrification, methanogenesis, methylotrophy, i.e. processes generating greenhouse gases, are studied in the natural environment and in laboratory conditions. Classical microbiological and analytical methods, as well as new, molecular-based techniques are used (cloning, PCR, sequencing, DGGE, T-RFLP) in combination with in silico analyses of isolated sequences. A considerable part of the applied research carried out is devoted to investigation of treatment of nitrogen overloaded wastewater.
The role of the Chair in the Centre of Excellence is evaluation of the ecoremediation potential of peat soils for treatment of urban wastewater, as well as analytical support to other partners. New analytical methods are being developed for determination of structure, composition and activity of microbial communities, potentially useful in monitoring of environmental changes.
e-mail: ines.mandic@bf.uni-lj.si
Department of biology
Chair of molecular genetics and microbiology
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