The central scientific objectives of LeAD are to understand and mitigate the effects of environmental stressors on the syntrophic relationships between syntrophic bacteria and methanogenic archaea, and further develop resistant and resilient technologies for the efficient production of value-added products from waste through anaerobic digestion. The syntrophic relationships will be thoroughly investigated using advanced omics-based techniques and modelling approaches (Projects 1-3). The design will use both top-down conventional bioreactor acclimation techniques and bottom-up modelling approaches (Projects 4-9). We will reveal the response and adaptation mechanisms of established ecosystems under stressed environmental conditions, such as shock loading, or free ammonia/sulphate inhibition (Projects 1-14). Based on the clarified response and adaptation mechanisms, strategies will be developed to improve system stability for methane production or enhance the production of other value-added products (Projects 10-14).

This project is a collaboration with the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland; the Universiteit Gent, Belgium; the Politechnika Poznaska, Poland; the Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark; the Institut National de Recherche pour L'Agriculture, L'Alimentation et L'Environnement (INRAE), France; the Politecnico di Torino, Italy, and the Middle East Technical University, Turkey.