Action Plan – (Experimental plan)
The work is divided in five work packages (WPs) :
WP1: Selection of superior Duckweed (Lemnaceae) genotypes for the utilization of nutrients in biodigestors wastes
Identification of high performance Duckweed genotypes in terms of growth rate, nutrient uptake, biomass quality, and microbiome safety
Task 1 (IBBA-Milano) : Phenotypic analysis of Duckweed genotypes grown under different conditions.
The first activity of the project is to select a set of genotypes of Duckweed, mainly form the genera Spirodela and Lemna, that are publicly available in germplasm collections
Task 2 (IBBA-Milano) : Biomass composition analysis of Duckweed genotypes grown under different conditions
Task 3 (IBBA-Lodi and ISPA) : “In vitro” assessment of the microbial community composition before and after aquatic plant treatment, applying both metagenomic-based molecular and culture-dependent approaches
WP2: Duckweed: transcriptomic and metagenomics analyses
1) Characterization of molecular pathways that affect the performance of plants under extreme growth conditions.
2) Evaluation of the potential role of degrading bacteria in the rhizosphere in the removal of N and P as well as organic chemicals in wastewater.
Task 1 (IBBA-Milano) : Comparative transcriptome profiling of Duckweed genotypes to identify molecular pathways involved in substrate uptake and plant fitness
Task 2 (IBBA-Lodi and ISPA): “In vitro” assessment of degrading bacterial community in the rhizosphere fraction of Duckweed applying both metagenomic-based molecular and culture-dependent approaches
WP3- Field analyses of selected genotypes
System set up in a pilot scale
Task 1 (IBBA-Milano) : Field evaluation of high-performance of Duckweed genotypes
Task 2 (IBBA-Lodi and ISPA) : Investigation of the potential role of degrading bacteria in the rhizosphere in the removal of N and P as well as organic chemicals in wastewater in field experiments
Task 3 (IBBA-Lodi and ISPA) : Assessment of the microbial community composition in the wastewater before and after aquatic plant treatment, applying both metagenomic-based molecular and culture-dependent approaches
WP 4 (DiSAA): Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of bioproduct production
Evaluation of the environmental performances of the bio-product production from Duckweed using LCA methodology.
Task 1 (DISAA) : Environmental impact of bio-products production
Task 2 (DISAA) : Environmental evaluation of bio-products produced by Duckweed
Task 3 (DISAA) : IPS (Innovative Production Systems) and Traditional Production Systems (TPS) Comparison
WP5: Project coordination and management
Strategic management to conduct the partnership in a durable integration and reach the expected results