Natural-Synthetic Hybrids
Using naturally sourced antimicrobials
Combining synthetic and natural biocides
to use different ranges of potencies
against a wide range of organisms
Grape Tannins Based Active Plastic Materials
Charlotte’s PhD project will seek to produce and evaluate polymer blends consisting of grape extracts (specifically, grape tannins) inserted into various polymer materials, for applications where biocidal properties are required of the plastics.
This will use a low value waste product (grape tannins from agro waste produced by the wine industry) to construct potentially commercially viable products that have little environmental impact.
Grape tannins contain a range of naturally occurring polyphenol antioxidant compounds and are seen as safe to use, so are ideal for use in the medical and food industries. The project will entail optimising the processes involved and conducting surface characterization procedures on the films.
PhD student Charlotte Vendermeer
Charlotte is an enthusiast local student who has done her BSc (Hons) here at the University of Auckland. She is passionate about Materials & Polymer Chemistry
Fungus Derived Antimicrobials
This project aims to elucidate the mechanism of action of ‘epicoccaene’, a yellow/orange pigment produced by the fungus Epicoccum pupurascens to develop a novel antifungal compounds in the future for commercial purposes.
By combining a range of imaging and omics approaches (e.g. genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics), Alex and his team strive to understand how this antifungal natural compound kills moulds.
Epicoccaene contains a peroxide group, and has shown activity against moulds but not yeasts, which is exceptionally rare in nature as most antifungal agents target both forms, since they are all fungi. Therefore, epicoccaene could be a fungicidal molecule with a novel mode of action. Understanding it will provide an opportunity for developing novel antifungal compounds for commercial purposes.
Alex received a MSc in biological sciences at the University of Auckland. He's passionate about biological activities of natural microbial pigments and biotechnology
PhD student Alex Lee
Published Work