Research

Carbohydrates, also called glycans, are the most abundant biopolymers on Earth. They are essential to all known living organisms from bacteria to humans, but their importance is perhaps most striking in plants. Plants use glycans as their main building material, encasing their cells in a rigid and complex glycan wall that is central to their growth, resistance, and intercellular communication. However, the plant cell wall is also extraordinarily complex, and the molecular structure of its many glycan constituents remains poorly understood as conventional analytical methods struggle to deal with the immense complexity of these molecules. The aim of this project is to unravel the structure of plant cell wall glycans (e.g. hemicelluloses, pectins, and arabinogalactans) through the development of novel analytical methods based on ion mobility-mass spectrometry (IM-MS). Resolving isomeric structures and identifying novel structural motifs in plant polysaccharides are key challenges to overcome for a better understanding of cell wall structures. To this end, we will develop multidimensional LC-IM-MS workflows and establish a plant glycan database building on the unique library of synthetic plant oligosaccharide standards of the Pfrengle group. The plant glycomics methods developed herein will be applied to the study of Arabidopsis thaliana mutants with cell wall defects, revealing the role of specific genes in the formation of defined structural motifs in the plant cell wall. Through offering molecular-level insight into the main structural building blocks of the cell wall, our project will facilitate our understanding of cell wall formation and the structure-function relationships that govern its various roles in plants from development to immunity.

As an interdisciplinary, integrative project in the context of the circular economy, mass spectrometric characterization of degradation products obtained from various treatment methods of technical lignins and lignin modifications is planned. This complex analytical data will then be processed in databases using a bioinformatic approach together with a variety of other process- and substance-specific data and made available for process optimization. In addition to this collaborative research, the project also addresses an entirely new aspect in the field of metal-molecule interactions. The creation of an atlas of metal-binding small molecules is planned, which will be integrated into the institute's existing research in the field of metal trace and ultra-trace analysis in the aquatic environment and the rhizosphere.

Water-soluble polymers (WSPs) are essential high-performance ingredients in home and personal care products – with an annual global production exceeding 1 million tons and a market demand that is expected to further increase. Sustainable end-of-life management for WSPs is currently one of the key challenges facing the polymer community. In this context, biodegradable alternatives to persistent WSPs have gained increasing interest from several sectors (including industry, regulation, academia, and the public). Despite this interest, our fundamental understanding of WSP biodegradation in both natural and engineered systems is limited. Particular knowledge gaps are pertaining to the pathway of biodegradation, the microorganisms and enzymes that play a key role in this process, the polymer- and environment-related factors that affect biodegradation, and the analytical methods for investigating WSP biodegradation and assessing the transferability of results from laboratory testing to realistic scenarios. In a collaborative effort of expert researchers from the University of Vienna (UNIVIE), University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), and BASF SE, the proposed Christian Doppler (CD) Laboratory for Biodegradation of Water-Soluble Polymers will address these knowledge gaps. By pushing forward the knowledge boundaries in this emerging field of research, we seek to fundamentally comprehend the chemistry and microbiology underlying WSP biodegradation and to thereby lay the urgently needed scientific foundation for the design of biodegradable high-performance WSPs and the development of science-based regulations of WSP biodegradability. Given the release of WSPs used in home and personal care applications into wastewater streams, the focus of the proposed research lies on biodegradation in wastewater and freshwater systems. WSP classes of particular interest include polyamino acids and polysaccharides, which are considered promising for combining performance during use and end-of-life biodegradability. The proposed research will be tackled in nine distinct subprojects - each addressing one of our three objectives: (i) identify key factors affecting the kinetics and pathways of WSP biodegradation, (ii) derive links between microbiome functioning and WSP biodegradation, and (iii) develop analytical methods that enable detailed investigations of WSP biodegradation and moving towards realistic scenarios. The proposed CD laboratory responds to the emerging need for a deeper understanding of the fate of WSPs in natural and engineered systems. Through interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaboration – and by combining expertise in environmental chemistry, microbiology, and analytical chemistry – we will obtain transformative insights into the complex process of WSP biodegradation. Specific anticipated outcomes include elucidated biodegradation pathways and intermediates, enabled biodegradation prediction based on characterized microorganisms and enzymes, established analytical methods for WSP characterization, and a critical assessment of the transferability of laboratory tests to realistic scenarios. These outcomes will enable the design of biodegradable high-performance WSPs for a sustainable end-of-life management and pave the way for science-based regulatory advancements – towards a sustainable future, in which challenges are met with innovative chemical solutions and collective action.