Poland’s Izabela Michalak attends a short-term scientific training session at UBS

Poland’s Izabela Michalak attends a short-term scientific training session at UBSIzabela has been working for several years on marine algae and applications in bioremediation and agriculture.

Izabela has been working for several years on marine algae and applications in bioremediation and agriculture. She is known for two famous publications:

  • Michalak, I., & Chojnacka, K. (2015). Algae as Production Systems of Bioactive Compounds. Engineering in Life Sciences, 15(2), 160-176.
  • Michalak, I., Tuhy, Ł., & Chojnacka, K. (2015). Seaweed Extract by Microwave Assisted Extraction as Plant Growth Biostimulant. Open Chemistry, 13(1).

During her stay Izabela Michalak participated in lectures, research and scientific meetings.

Lectures

Izabela Michalak gave three lectures to the Master 1 and 2 students from the Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology and Chemistry (LBCM) at UBS in Lorient (17.09.2018):

  • Algae and algae-based products – potential applications
  • Algal extracts – potential applications
  • Biosorption of metal ions by biomass in practice

 

Scientific meetings

Izabela Michalak participated in several scientific meetings

  • Doctor Chrystèle Dufau –  head of the Master 2 Programme in Biotechnology at UBS
  • PhD Jean-Pascal Bergé – CEO of BioThoT, a company dedicated to assisting industry for a better use of their biomass
  • Jean-Philippe Kucma – CEO of NEWONAT (www.newonat-sas.fr), a company specialized in the extraction of different plant materials, using several extraction techniques (e.g. supercritical fluid extraction, ultrasound assisted extraction etc.,), purification of extracts and their chemical analysis using chromatography (GC, HPLC, TLC)

Research

During a short scientific-training, Izabela Michalak participated in classes in Hoëdic Island (2 days) with a view to exploring, identifying and collecting of seaweeds with students.

She collected brown seaweeds – Ascophyllum nodosum, Fucus serratus and Fucus vesiculosus in Arradon (Brittany, France) and prepared them for the extraction process.

 

Izabela was informed about the research conducted in the team of Professor Nathalie Bourgougnon with presentations by :

- PhD student Shareen A ABDUL MALIK concerning active substances from Halymenia floresia (Clemente) C. Agardh used as antifouling products in aquaculture

- Post-doc student Hugo Cortes Pliego concerning the extraction of glycoproteins from green seaweeds – Ulva lactuca.

 

She was introduced to the extraction of glycoproteins from green seaweeds – Ulva lactuca (post-doc Hugo Cortes Pliego) and could learn from Professor Laurent Vandanjonwith several techniques used in the laboratory, e.g., FTIR, freeze-drying.

 

Professor Nathalie Bourgougnon and her team explained to her the analysis of chemical composition of collected brown seaweeds (for example: protein, sugars, ash, phenols, sulfate, uronics, lipids and antioxidant activity), the extraction of alginates and antiviral evaluation of algal extracts and the methods of utilizating algal biomass collected from the natural environment.

Future perspectives

During her stay, Izabela Michalak also discussed possible publications and joint research projects on the use of algae collected from the seashore. She worked with me on the proposal for the “Interdisciplinary School for the Blue Planet (ISblue)” for the UBS Master students who would like to carry out research in Poland.