Sustainable production of Vitamin K1

The project: Vitamin K1 is an essential nutrient in both human and animal nutrition. Given the increasing environmental pressures facing us as a society there is a need to develop safe, sustainable and cost-effective production methods for important compounds.

We have previously shown that microalgae are a rich source of Vitamin K1, and there is considerable potential for these organisms to be used in sustainable production. This is because they are photosynthetic, meaning the primary inputs to the process are sunlight and carbon dioxide. Additionally, production using microalgae is favourable as they do not need to be grown using arable land or potable water, avoiding competition with existing food production methods. However, the diversity of microalgae has yet to be fully explored, and there are some challenges in developing and scaling-up processes.

This project aims to address these challenges in order to develop novel, sustainable production processes.

What you will be doing: this project will be primarily lab based. Students working on this project can:

• Cultivate a range of species of microalgae and cyanobacteria at small (< 250 mL) scales, as well as at larger (3 L) scales using custom built photo-bioreactors.

• Learn skills related to the extraction of vitamin K1 from algal biomass, as well as quantitating the concentrations using HPLC

• Learn skills in process development and optimisation

• Learn skills in process modelling and techno-economic evaluation.

Work on the project is not limited to these areas – if you have an area you are particularly interested in please get in touch.

Your background:

Applicants should have a First Class or Upper Second Class Honours degree, or a MSc in chemical engineering, biotechnology or a related discipline. Applicants should be able to work independently, have good written and oral communication skills and be self-motivated. 

References:

Tarento, T.D.C., McClure, D.D., Vasiljevski, E., Schindeler, A., Dehghani, F., and Kavanagh, J.M. (2018). Microalgae as a source of vitamin K1. Algal Research 36, 77-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.algal.2018.10.008.Tarento, T.D.C., McClure, D.D., Dehghani, F., and Kavanagh, J.M. (2019). Pilot-scale production of phylloquinone (vitamin K1) using a bubble column photo-bioreactor. Biochemical Engineering Journal 150, 107243.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bej.2019.107243.

Brunel offers a number of funding options to research students that help cover the cost of their tuition fees, contribute to living expenses or both. See more information here: https://www.brunel.ac.uk/research/Research-degrees/Research-degree-funding. The UK Government is also offering Doctoral Student Loans for eligible students, and there is some funding available through the Research Councils. Many of our international students benefit from funding provided by their governments or employers. Brunel alumni enjoy tuition fee discounts of 15%.