Projects

Microalgae are promising raw materials for food, animal feed, and renewable energy, and make an important contribution to sustainable production systems. In the food sector in particular, they replace animal proteins, thereby reducing the use of soy. Despite the growing market for microalgae products, there is still a lack of standardized, precise methods for testing microalgae purity, especially in industrial mass production. Pathogens such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, protozoa, and competing algae can cause significant losses. Conventional microbiological detection methods have their limitations, as many organisms are difficult to detect. The aim of this project is to develop an automated analysis workflow that uses centrifugal microfluidics and modern molecular biology methods to reliably determine the purity and composition of microbial communities in microalgae cultures. The starting point is a sample pellet, whose DNA is subjected to a highly sensitive, multiplex-capable qPCR after cell lysis and purification. This allows up to 32 target organisms to be detected in parallel. The process from sample preparation to analysis is fully automated and standardized, ensuring reproducible and rapid results. The results obtained enable the introduction of a quality seal for algae products and could be transferred to other applications, such as the monitoring of parasites in aquaculture, by adapting the workflow. The automated, sensitive analysis thus promotes consumer confidence, product quality, and resource conservation.