Učni načrt predmeta

Predmet:
Okoljska biotehnologija
Course:
Environmental Biotechnology
Študijski program in stopnja /
Study programme and level		 Študijska smer /
Study field		 Letnik /
Academic year		 Semester /
Semester
Ekotehnologije, 3. stopnja / 1 1
Ecotechnologies, 3rd cycle / 1 1
Vrsta predmeta / Course type
Izbirni / Elective
Univerzitetna koda predmeta / University course code:
EKO3-919
Predavanja
Lectures		 Seminar
Seminar		 Vaje
Tutorial		 Klinične vaje
work		 Druge oblike
študija		 Samost. delo
Individ. work		 ECTS
15 15 105 5

*Navedena porazdelitev ur velja, če je vpisanih vsaj 15 študentov. Drugače se obseg izvedbe kontaktnih ur sorazmerno zmanjša in prenese v samostojno delo. / This distribution of hours is valid if at least 15 students are enrolled. Otherwise the contact hours are linearly reduced and transfered to individual work.

Nosilec predmeta / Course leader:
izr. prof. dr. Aleš Lapanje
Sodelavci / Lecturers:
doc. dr. Tomaž Rijavec
Jeziki / Languages:
Predavanja / Lectures:
slovenščina, angleščina / Slovenian, English
Vaje / Tutorial:
slovenščina, angleščina / Slovenian, English
Pogoji za vključitev v delo oz. za opravljanje študijskih obveznosti:
Prerequisites:

Zaključen študij druge stopnje ustrezne (naravoslovne ali tehniške) smeri ali zaključen študij drugih smeri z dokazanim poznavanjem osnov področja predmeta (pisna dokazila, pogovor).

Completed second level studies in natural sciences or engineering or completed second level studies in other fields with proven knowledge of fundamentals in the field of this course (certificates, interview).

Vsebina:
Content (Syllabus outline):

Osnove
- Razumevanje vpliva onesnaževal na biogeokemične cikle
- Osnovno poznavanje vpliva onesnaževal na mikrobioto
- Onesnaženje in spremembe parametrov mikrobne združbe
- Onesnaževalci iz fizikalnih procesov in mikrobi

Mikrobni procesi
- Poznavanje biokemične razgradnje organskih onesnaževal
- Znanje o mikrobno podprti sekvestraciji, odpornosti, transformaciji in absorpciji anorganskih onesnaževal
- Znanje o presnovi onesnaževal v mikrobni združbi v primerjavi s posameznimi celicami
- Uporaba metod omik pri ocenjevanju transformacijah onesnaževal

Uporabni vidiki
- Metode mikrobnih gorivnih celic
- Poznavanje biogoriv, sinteznega plina in drugih dragocenih produktov, ki jih proizvajajo mikroorganizmi
- Pristopi biološkega izpiranja
- Mikrobni vidiki odpadkov in ravnanje z odpadki
- Postopki kompostiranja
- Biognojenje in varstvo rastlin z uporabo mikrobnih pristopov
- Proizvodnja bioplina

Basics
- Understanding the interference of pollutants with biogeochemical cycles
- Basic knowledge on the interference of pollutants on microbiota
- Pollution and changes of microbial community parameters
- Physical processes pollutants and microbes

Microbial processes
- Knowledge on biochemical degradation of organic pollutants
- Knowledge on microbially assisted sequestration, resistance, transformation and uptake of inorganic pollutants
- Knowledge on metabolism of pollutants on microbial community vs. single cell level
- Use of microbial omics in assessing pollutant transformations

Applied aspects
- Microbial fuel cell methods
- Knowledge on biofuels, syngas and other valuable products produced by
microorganisms
- Bioleaching approaches
- Microbial aspects of waste and waste management
- Composting processes
- Biofertilisation and plant protection using microbial approaches
- Biogas production

Temeljna literatura in viri / Readings:

Knjiga / Book:
- Sibi, G., 2022. Environmental Biotechnology: Fundamentals to Modern Techniques. CRC Press.
- Gu, J.D., 2021. On environmental biotechnology of bioremediation. Appl Environ Biotechnol, 5, pp.3-8.
- Arora, N.K., Mishra, J. and Mishra, V. eds., 2020. Microbial enzymes: roles and applications in industries (pp. 1-110). Berlin Heidelberg: Springer.
- Yadav, A.N., 2020. Plant microbiomes for sustainable agriculture: current research and future challenges (pp. 475-482). Springer International Publishing.

Revije / Periodicals:
- Nature Biotechnology
- Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology
- Biomacromolecules
- Environmental science and technology
- Trends in biotechnology
- Bioresource technology
- Biotechnology advances

Pregledni članki, izbor v tekočem letu/Review articles, yearly selection

Cilji in kompetence:
Objectives and competences:

Učence seznaniti z osnovami:
- vpletenost mikrobne aktivnosti v razgradnjo, sekvestracijo in transformacijo onesnaževal
- napovedovanje rezultatov razgradljivosti onesnaževal na osnovi mikrobnih procesov
- vključevanje prenosa elektronov med člani mikrobne združbe za proizvodnjo energije in razgradnjo onesnaževal
- razumevanje različnih procesov mikrobno proizvedene energije ali energentov
- biostimulacija in bioaugmentacija
- kmetijska mikrobna stimulacija in trenutne ovire
- kompostiranje in sorodni postopki, kot sta biopiliranje in ekopiliranje

Kompetence:
- postavitev, vrednotenje in usmerjanje razvoja sistemov okoljske biotehnologije
- razvoj novih tehnik biostimulacije in bioaugmentacije
- poseganje v mikrobne procese na podlagi fizikalno-kemijskih meritev
- razvoj biokatalitskih jeder na osnovi mikroorganizmov (od izolacije, priprave konzorcijev, selekcije in spajanja celic na podlagi metabolnih značilnosti)

To introduce students to the basics of:
- involvement of microbial activities in the degradation, sequestration and
transformation of pollutants
- predicting the outcome of degradability of pollutants on the basis of microbial processes
- involvement of electron transfer among the microbial community members for energy production and pollutant degradation
- understanding of different process of microbially produced energy or energy sources
- biostimulation and bioaugmentation
- agricultural microbially induced stimulation and current obstacles
- composting and related processes such as biopyling and ecopyling

Competences:
- setting up, evaluation and manipulation of environmental biotechnology systems
- development of new biostimulating and augmentation techniques
- interfering with the microbial processes on the basis of physicochemical measurements and readings
- developing microorganism-based biocatalytic cores (from isolation, consortia preparation, selection and metabolic coupling)

Predvideni študijski rezultati:
Intendeded learning outcomes:

Študent bo z uspešno zaključenim predmetom pridobil osnovno znanje na naslednjih področjih:
- okoljska mikrobiologija onesnaževal
- mikrobna energetika in elektrostimulacija v mikrobnih gorivnih celicah ali bioelektričnih sistemih
- združljivost materialov, okolja in mikrobov glede na okoljske tehnologije
- trenutne ovire najsodobnejših tehnologij, ki so v uporabi
- nadgradnje in biorevalorizacije
- integracije teh veščin pri reševanju problemov v kontekstu disertacije

The student with the successful completion of the course will acquire basic knowledge in the following areas:
- environmental microbiology of pollutants
- microbial energetics and electrostimulation in microbial fuel cells or bioelectrical
systems
- compatibility of materials, environment and microbes in relation to the environmental technologies
- current obstacles of the state-of-the-art technologies
- upscaling and biorevalorisation
- integration of these skills in problem solving in the context of the dissertation.

Metode poučevanja in učenja:
Learning and teaching methods:

Interaktivno delo s študentom.
Poudarek je predvsem na reševanju realnih problemov, ki so povezani z raziskovalnim delom kandidata.

Interactive work with students.
The focus is on solving real problems that are related to the research work of the student.

Načini ocenjevanja:
Delež v % / Weight in %
Assesment:
Seminarska naloga
60 %
Seminar
Ustni izpit
40 %
Oral examination
Reference nosilca / Lecturer's references:
1. Zugan, M., Plešnik, H., Strojnik, L., Ogrinc, N., Kosjek, T., Lapanje, A. and Rijavec, T., 2026. Ligninolytic capabilities of indigenous Paraburkholderia sp. isolated from Reynoutria japonica rhizosphere: a potential mechanism enhancing plant invasiveness. Geoderma, 473, p.118009.
2. DEEV, D., RYBKIN, Iaroslav, RIJAVEC, Tomaž, LAPANJE, Aleš. When beneficial biofilms on materials is needed : electrostatic attachment of living bacterial cells induces biofilm formation. Frontiers in materials. 2021, vol. 8, 1-624631-14-624631, ilustr. ISSN 2296-8016. DOI: 10.3389/fmats.2021.624631. [COBISS.SI-ID 61416963]
3. VERDEL, Nada, RIJAVEC, Tomaž, RYBKIN, Iaroslav, ERZIN, Anja, VELIŠČEK, Žiga, PINTAR, Albin, LAPANJE, Aleš. Isolation, identification, and selection of bacteria with proof-of-concept for bioaugmentation of whitewater from wood-free paper mills. Frontiers in microbiology. Oct. 2021, vol. 12, [article no.] 758702, str. 1-15, ilustr. ISSN 1664-302X. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2021.758702/full, DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.758702. [COBISS.SI-ID 80125955]
4. Černe, M., Lapanje, A. and Jakubus, M., 2026. Cutting edge reclamation solutions for transforming biodegradable waste into sustainable resources. Frontiers in Environmental Science, 14, p.1953007.
5. Grilc, N.K., Stojanov, S., Rijavec, T., Lapanje, A., Berlec, A. and Zupančič, Š., 2025. Viability of potential probiotics incorporated into nanofibers: Influence of genera, storage conditions, stabilizers and their solid-state. International journal of pharmaceutics, 673, p.125327.