University of Ljubliana, Slovenia

The biotechnical Faculty is ranked among the large Faculties at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Its basic mission is education at graduate and postgraduate level, research and professional work in the field of life sciences. With diversity of educational and research programmes it includes interdisciplinary and internationally oriented cooperation and exchange of academic staff and students. The department of Food Science and Technology of the Biotechnical Faculty established a chair of Biotechnology in 1993. The group participating in PROMISE has experience in different fields including food microbiology and food safety. The facilities comprise four laboratories (1) Laboratory for industrial biocultures is equipped for standard microbiological work with different groups of microorganisms at biosafety level 1 and molecular-biology equipment (PCRs, electrophoreses, gel documentation system, microplate reader etc.) and (2) Laboratory of industrial microbiology (3) Laboratory for food microbiology is equipped for research in classical and molecular methods of food microbiology (real time-PCR etc). (4) Laboratory for proteomics is equipped with 2-D PAGE electrophoresis.

Website: Link

Contact Person: Sonja Smole

Professional interests of Sonja Smole Možina include food-related bacteria and microbiological and molecular-genetic methods for their identification and characterization of bacterial stress response and resistance in food-related environment. Mechanisms of antibacterial action of natural antimicrobials is another field of interest. In the last 15 years she has been involved in research of pathogenic Campylobacter transmission in extra-intestinal environment - its incidence, detection and identificationas well as subtyping along the fod production and supply chain, antibiotic and biocide resistance and resistance against natural antimicrobials, stress response and virulence and detection of stressed bacterial cells.

In the last 15 years she supervised 60 diploma and master students and 5 PhD students and published alone or as a co-author of 85 original scientific papers, review articles and book chapters, 20 invited and nearly 60 other conference presentations.