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

Using polyelectrolytes to modify cell surface charge and induce cell attachment.

Multi-species artificial aggregates and biofilms that mimic natural structures. 

Carriers with and active role in promotion of bacterial physiology.

Building complex multi-step biotransformation pathways involving multiple partners.

Characterizing bacterial strains on multiple levels using OMICS. 

Detection of toxic metals like mercury by whole-cells or specific proteins.

APPLIED KNOWLEDGE FOR

Bacterial cell factories with complex metabolic pathways, aggregated cellular structures in 2D (biofilms) or 3D (spherical aggregates)

Bioremediation, biotransformation

Guiding bacterial cells in vivo, bacterial production of medical compounds

Decomposition of waste, bacterial fertilizers

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 

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.

Dmitrii Deev

PhD candidate

M.Sc. in Biology

Working on dynamics of artificial biofilms

Maja Zugan

PhD candidate

Msc in Microbiology

Working on environmental applications of colloid biology

Allwin Mabes Raj

PhD candidate

Msc in Zoology (spl. Biotechnology)

Working on Nanobiosensors for methylmercury detection 

Blaž Bohinc

Msc. candidate

Working on the attachment of photosynthetic microorganisms to semiconductors to improve tritium separation

Tamara Kerševan

Msc. Candidate

Studying the relations of particle size and microbial biofilms.

Teja Colja

Msc. candidate

Working on characteristation of antimicrobial activity of bacterial isolates

SurfBio Innovation Hub - Visiting researchers 

Miha Šmuc, ZAG

PhD. candidate

Msc. in Geology 

Working on bioleaching and extraction of valuable metals from various materials.

Former Lab Members

OUR CLOSE COLLABORATORS @ JSI

Marko Štrok

PhD Chemistry

Laboratory for radiochemistry

Tina Kosjek

PhD Chemistry

Laboratory for analytical chemistry - Organic Analysis

Janez Ščančar

PhD Chemistry

Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry  - Trace element speciation

Raghuraj S Chouhan

PhD Chemistry

Laboratory for nanomateials

Milena Horvat

PhD Chemistry

Department of Environmental Sciences Head

Tomaž Lutman

PhD Chemistry

Technology Manger

PUBLICATIONS - LATEST

Read more ...

Modification of bacterial cells for in vivo remotely guided systems

RYBKIN et al. 

Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology, 2023, vol. 10

Nanofibers with genotyped Bacillus strains exhibiting antibacterial and immunomodulatory activity

GRILC et al. 

J of controlled release. 2023, vol. 355

Advances in experimental and computational methodologies for the study of microbial-surface interactions at different omics levels

GONZÁLES-PLAZA et la. 

Frontiers in microbiology. 2022, vol. 13

Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active bacterial detection by Layer-by-Layer (LbL) assembly all-nanoparticle microcapsules.

LI et la. 

Colloids and surfaces. A, Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects. 2022, vol. 650

FEATUrED PROJECT

web page: https://www.biosysmo.eu/   |   LinkedIn   |   Twitter

We are implementing bacterial consortia for different bioremediation approaches, like bioaugmentation using advanced cell carriers,  plant remediation systems and bioelectrochemical systems. 

ONGOING PROJECTS

Valorisation of olive oil waste material by microbial multispecies biocatalytic aggregates

Hybrid particle/hydrogel/bacterial carriers for microbially-assisted degradation of recalcitrant polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

New biofertilization approach based on the microbial multispecies biocatalytic aggregates

Investigation of selected invasive plant species from genus Fallopia as reliable sources of bioactive compounds 

ARIS (J7-2597) Biotrisep 

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  

Cycling of substances in the environment, mass balances, modelling of environmental processes and risk assessment  

Phoenix (COST ACT. CA19123)

Protection, Resilience, Rehabilitation of damaged environment

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

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHEMISTRY

UNIVERSITY OF LJUBLJANA

UNIVERSITY OF MARIBOR

UNIVERSITY OF PRIMORSKA

UNIVERSITY OF NOVO MESTO

SLOVENIAN NATIONAL BUILDING AND CIVIL ENGINEERING INSTITUTE

LOCATION

GROUP FOR COLLOID BIOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
JOŽEF STEFAN INSTITUTE | REACTOR CENTER PODGORICA
BRINJE 40, 1262 DOL PRI LJUBLJANI, SLOVENIA