Project properties
Title Microbial ecology of Zambian fermented products: evolution of microbial communities
Group Genetics, Laboratory of
Project type thesis
Credits up to 6 months
Supervisor(s) Sijmen Schoustra
Anneloes Groenenboom
Examiner(s) Bas Zwaan
Contact info Sijmen Schoustra
Begin date 2019/02/05
End date 2023/02/04
Description Microbial ecology of Zambian fermented products: evolution of microbial communities
Analogous to well-known fermented products such as yoghurt, wine, beer and sauerkraut, Zambia has many endogenous fermented products. The fermentation processes are ancient and result in safe products with an increased nutritional value and an increased shelf life than the raw materials. The microbiology of fermentation in these traditional foods is largely unknown and represents an outstanding opportunity for addressing both fundamental and practical questions of wide concern and is very suitable for a thesis project. In particular, why are the microbial communities in these fermented products so stable and what mechanisms prevent the invasion of novel strains such as pathogenic bacteria. These questions represent long-standing issues in community ecology and evolutionary biology, namely, what makes natural microbial communities both diverse and stable over the long-term.
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