Colloid biology
Colloid: a mixture of microscopically dispersed insoluble PARTICLES suspended throughout another substance. The PARTICLES, usually inanimate, have different physical and chemical properties, which determine their characteristics.
BIOcolloid = a mixture of CELLS ! I.e. live particles that sense the environment, respond to it and change with time. Meaning, they are a bit more complex to study and understand. All hands on deck!
NEWS FROM THE LAB
WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON
Bacterial Cell Surface Modification
Using polyelectrolytes to modify cell surface charge and induce cell attachment.
Construction of Artificial Consortia
Multi-species artificial aggregates and biofilms that mimic natural structures.
Microbial Cell Carriers
Carriers with and active role in promotion of bacterial physiology.
Metabolic modelling
Building complex multi-step biotransformation pathways involving multiple partners.
Physiology of bacterial cells
Characterizing bacterial strains on multiple levels using OMICS.
Cell and molecular sensors
Detection of toxic metals like mercury by whole-cells or specific proteins.
APPLIED KNOWLEDGE FOR
Biotechnological processes
Bacterial cell factories with complex metabolic pathways, aggregated cellular structures in 2D (biofilms) or 3D (spherical aggregates)
Environmental technologies
Bioremediation, biotransformation
Medicine
Guiding bacterial cells in vivo, bacterial production of medical compounds
Agro Sciences
Decomposition of waste, bacterial fertilizers
Surface modification & coatings
Protective coatings for materials, or coatings that interact and modify the material
THE TOOLS WE USE
PARTICLE SIZE & CHARGE CHARACTERIZATION
CELL ENTRAPMENT & ENCAPSULATION
ELECTROSTATIC MODIFICATION OF SURFACES
FLOW CYTOMETRY
CUSTOM MADE MICROFLUIDICS
QCM
TIME LAPSE FLUORESCENCE MICROSCOPY
SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY & EDS
RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY
GAS & LIQUID CHROM. MASS SPECTROSCOPY
FLOUR. & LUMINESCENCE SPECTROSCOPY
MICROSENSORS
MOLECULAR CLONING
REAL-TIME QUANTITATIVE PCR
NANOPORE SEQUENCING
BIOINFOMRATICS (OMICS)
MACHINE LEARNING
METABOLIC MODELING
THE TEAM
Aleš Lapanje
Associate professor
Head of the Lab for Colloid Biology
PhD in Microbiology
Establishing the new scientific field - Colloid Biology
Tomaž Rijavec
Assistant Professor
PhD. in Molecular Biology
Working on bacterial communities, genes & genomes
Anatolii Abalymov
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Biotechnologies
Working on development of materials for tissue engineering, lab-on-chip systems, nano- and microparticles for drug delivery
Tayebeh Sharifi
Postdoctoral Researcher
PhD in Material Sciences
Working on design and development of nanomaterials for a hybrid of bio-photo-electrochemical system for detritiation of light-water and simultaneously H2 generation.
Maja Zugan
PhD candidate
Msc in Microbiology
Working on environmental applications of colloid biology
Dmitrii Deev
PhD candidate
M.Sc. in Biology
Working on dynamics of artificial biofilms
Farzaneh Hosseini
PhD candidate
Msc in Chemistry
Working on microbe driven enrichment of tritium
Allwin Mabes Raj
PhD candidate
Msc in Zoology (spl. Biotechnology)
Working on Nanobiosensors for methylmercury detection
Tamara Kerševan
Msc. Candidate
Studying the relations of particle size and microbial biofilms.
Urša Lovše
Msc. Biochemistry
Working on genome sequencing and characterization.
Teja Colja
Msc. candidate
Working on characteristation of antimicrobial activity of bacterial isolates
OUR CLOSE COLLABORATORS @ JSI
Marko Štrok
PhD Chemistry
Laboratory for radiochemistry
Tina Kosjek
PhD Chemistry
Laboratory for analytical chemistry - Organic Analysis
Jitka Hreščak
PhD Biology
Center for Electron Microscopy and Microanalysis
Raghuraj S Chouhan
PhD Chemistry
Laboratory for nanomateials
Milena Horvat
PhD Chemistry
Department of Environmental Sciences Head
Tomaž Lutman
PhD Chemistry
Technology Manger
PUBLICATIONS
SELECTED PAPERS:
Grilc, N.K., Zidar, A., Kocbek, P., Rijavec, T., Colja, T., Lapanje, A., Jeras, M., Gobec, M., Mlinarič-Raščan, I., Gašperlin, M. and Kristl, J., 2023. Nanofibers with genotyped Bacillus strains exhibiting antibacterial and immunomodulatory activity. Journal of Controlled Release, 355, pp.371-384.
Verdel, N., Sežun, M., Rijavec, T., Zugan, M., Deev, D., Rybkin, I. and Lapanje, A., 2023. Microbiotechnology-Based Solutions for Removal and Valorization of Waste in Pulp and Paper Industry. In Biorefinery for Water and Wastewater Treatment (pp. 445-479). Cham: Springer International Publishing.
González-Plaza, J.J., Furlan, C., Rijavec, T., Lapanje, A., Barros, R., Tamayo-Ramos, J.A. and Suarez-Diez, M., 2022. Advances in experimental and computational methodologies for the study of microbial-surface interactions at different omics levels. Frontiers in Microbiology, 13.
Deev, D., Rybkin, I., Rijavec, T., Lapanje, A. 2021. When Beneficial Biofilm on Material Is Needed: Electrostatic Attachment of Living Bacterial Cells Induces Biofilm Formation. Frontiers in Materials. doi:10.3389/fmats.2021.624631
van Tatenhove-Pel, R.J., Rijavec, T., Lapanje, A. et al. Microbial competition reduces metabolic interaction distances to the low µm-range. ISME J 15, 688–701 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41396-020-00806-9
Rybkin, I., Gorin, D., Sukhorukov, G., Lapanje, A. Thickness of Polyelectrolyte Layers of Separately Confined Bacteria Alters Key Physiological Parameters on a Single Cell Level. Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, doi:10.3389/fbioe.2019.00378
Rijavec, T., Zrimec, J., van Spanning, R., Lapanje, A., Natural Microbial Communities Can Be Manipulated by Artificially Constructed Biofilms. Adv. Sci. 2019, 6, 1901408. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.201901408
PROJECTS
LATEST UPDATES
ONGOING PROJECTS
Integrated systems for effective environmental remediation - SEE MORE -
Crossing (HZDR, Germany)
Crossing Borders and Scales - an interdisciplinary approach
Valorisation of olive oil waste material by microbial multispecies biocatalytic aggregates
New biofertilization approach based on the microbial multispecies biocatalytic aggregates
Cost-efficient separation of tritium from water with bio-based systems
Innovative isotopic techniques for identification of sources and biogeochemical cycling of mercury in contaminated sites
Protection, Resilience, Rehabilitation of damaged environment
Cycling of substances in the environment, mass balances, modelling of environmental processes and risk assessment
INTERNATIONAL NETWORK
UNIVERSITY OF BURGOS
GHENT UNIVERSITY
WAGENINGEN
UNIVERSITY & RESEARCH
HELMHOLZ ZENTRUM
DRESDEN-ROSENDORF
VU AMSTERDAM
DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
LEITAT
IDENER
INSTITUTE OF AGRICULTURE AND TOURISM
QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY
TOMSK UNIVERSITY
SARATOV STATE UNIVERSITY
UNIVERSITY OF BELGRADE
VRIJE UNIVERSITEIT BRUSSEL
NATIONAL NETWORK
CHEMICAL INSTITUTE
UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA
UNIVERSITY OF MARIBOR
UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA
UNIVERSITY OF NOVO MESTO
LOCATION
GROUP FOR COLLOID BIOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
JOŽEF STEFAN INSTITUTE | REACTOR CENTER PODGORICA
BRINJE 40, 1262 DOL PRI LJUBLJANI, SLOVENIA
