ERC Consolidator Grant · 2025
Microbial Photonics Across Scales
Phototrophic microorganisms including diverse bacteria harness sunlight to execute metabolic functions, rendering them indispensable as the base of most of the aquatic food webs. Harnessing light efficiently, a key prerequisite for survival and fitness of such species, is achieved biochemically via photoreceptors and light-sensitive actuators, cascading into gene expressions, protein functions, and tactic traits. Our recent findings on bacterial sulphur globules—energy-rich intracellular organelles in sulphur metabolising bacteria—reveal optical properties which could allow active manipulation of light fields within individual cells. Building on this fundamental discovery, MicroPAS proposes…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.