Doctoral Themes - Proposals

Nanorod-based supports for detection and quantification of antibiotic resistant bacteria on environmental waters

Supervisors

Marta M. Alves, martamalves@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Gonçalo C. Justino, goncalo.justino@tecnico.ulisboa.pt

Registration Institution

Instituto Superior Técnico (Universidade de Lisboa)

Project description

Antibiotic resistant bacteria in environmental waters represent an important part of the evolution of bacterial resistances, that pose a growing menace to human health.

The development of accurate yet simple solutions for on-site bacterial collection and/or quantification at the antibiotic polluted sites is a fundamental approach to mitigate this source of resistant pathogens.

This PhD project is aimed at the production, characterization, and optimization of ZnO nanorod films. This will be achieved by using electrodeposition techniques and advanced techniques for their physicochemical characterization. These ZnO films will be then used as supports to immobilize strain-specific antibodies, through covalent bonding. These devices will be able to offer the possibility to specifically collect and quantify microorganisms from water samples via electrochemical methods.

The work encompasses producing and characterizing nanorod supports, establishing optimal antibody immobilization conditions, developing antibody and bound bacteria quantification techniques. After optimizing the devices with laboratory-controlled conditions, these will be tested under environmental conditions, and the presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in environmental waters depicted.

Keywords

Antibiotic resistance; bacteria; environmental waters; pollution; ZnO nanorods

Check other proposals from this and the other thematic lines: