Croatian Science Foundation Research Project

MIcroplastic and Nanosilver InteractiONs in terrestrial and freshwater plants and algae (MINION)

Project leader: Prof. Biljana Balen, PhD

Project duration: 15.12.2023. – 14.12.2027.

News and activities on the project

From November 6 to 9

From November 6 to 9, 2024, PI Biljana Balen and team member Petra Cvjetko participated in the 5th International Congress on Food Safety and Quality „Safe food, today and tommorow“, which took place in Poreč.

Biljana Balen gave a presentation entitled „Phytotoxic effects of polystyrene and polymethyl methacrylate microplastics on the floating freshwater plant Lemna minor“, while Petra Cvjetko participated with a poster presentation entitled „Microplastics mediate the toxicity of silver nanoplastics in Allium cepa roots“.

Both contributions presented the results of the MINION project.

October 15, 2024

On October 15, 2024, Dorian Loknar, mag.biol. mol. joined the MINION project as a member of the research group. Dorian is employed on the project within the Croatian Science Foundation program "Career development of young researchers - training of new PhD students" within the framework of investment C 3.2. R2-I1 "Development of an incentive model for promoting the careers of researchers and conducting top scientific research in STEM and ICT fields (NPOO-DOK-2023-10)" and will prepare his PhD thesis within the project. Welcome Dorian!

14 - 16 October 2024

Assoc. prof. Ph.D. Petra Peharec Štefanić, collaborator of the project, participated with an oral presentation entitled Polystyrene particles impair photosynthesis in Chlorella vulgaris at the scientific conference INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON PLANT NANOTECHNOLOGY (ICPN2024), which took place 14 - 16 October 2024 in Poznan, Poland, where she presented the research results of the MINION project.

September 25 to 28, 2024

From September 25 to 28, 2024, postdoctoral researcher Bruno Komazec, PhD attended the FEBS3+ MEETING – EXPLORING MOLECULAR FRONTIERS conference, where he participated with a poster presentation entitled PLASTICS IN FOCUS: THE INFLUENCE OF POLYSTYRENE ON THE FITNESS OF FRESHWATER ALGAE and presented the results of the MINION project.

September 19, 2024

The new thesis was completed as part of the MINION project. On Thursday, September 19, 2024, Ana Matešković, student of Molecular Biology graduate study, completed her studies and graduated with a dissertation on "The effects of microplastics on the growth and photosynthesis of Lemna minor" under the supervision of Prof. Mirta Tkalec, Ph.D. and the co-supervision of Sandra Vitko, PhD.

July 19, 2024

The new thesis was completed as part of the MINION project. On Friday, July 19, 2024, Mihaela Jakopčić, student of Environmental Sciences, completed her studies and graduated with a dissertation on " THE EFFECT OF MICROPLASTICS ON OXIDATIVE STRESS APPEARANCE AND ACTIVITY OF ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES IN ONION (Allium cepa L.) ROOTS" under the supervision of Prof. Biljana Balen, Ph.D. and the co-supervision of Renata Biba, PhD.

May 29, 2024

On Wednesday, May 29, 2024, the principal investigator B. Balen and team members from the Division of Biology of the Faculty of Science M. Tkalec, D. Pavoković, P. Peharec Štefanić, P. Cvjetko i B. Komazec participated in the first meeting of nano- and microplastics researchers from Croatia "Microplastics for Breakfast with Andreja Palatinus" at the premises of the Institute of Medical Research and Occupational Medicine. A total of 62 researchers took part in the workshop, and the PI gave a short presentation on the work of the research group and the research project of the Croatian Science Foundation "MINION".

February 22, 2024

    Within the MINION project, the first graduation thesis was made. On Thursday, February 22, 2024, Luka Kobelščak, a graduate student of Environmental sciences, completed his studies and graduated with a dissertation on the topic " THE EFFECT OF MICROPLASTICS ON OXIDATIVE STRESS APPEARANCE AND ACTIVITY OF ANTIOXIDANT ENZYMES IN DUCKWEED (Lemna minor)" under the supervision of Prof. Biljana Balen, Ph.D. and the co-supervision of Karla Košpić, PhD.

December 15, 2024

  The MINION project started on December 15, 2024, and the first working meeting of the project team took place on December 21 at the Division of Molecular Biology, Department of Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Zagreb. The meeting was attended by researchers from the Faculty of Science and colleagues from the Croatian Institute of Public Health and the Teaching Institute of Public Health "Dr. Andrija Štampar" participated. The project leader, Prof. Biljana Balen, Ph.D., introduced all collaborators and researchers, explained the work and financial plan and pointed out the additions to the work plan that were made at the request of the reviewers. An activity plan for the first few months was also drawn up and the responsibilities of all collaborators were agreed.