Lilach Iasur

Dr. Gabriel Rubanenko Prize for Excellence in Water Research, 2005.

Department of Environmental Hydrology & Microbiology,
Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research,
Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research ,
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev

My name is Lilach Iasur and I was born and raised in the beautiful city of Haifa. In my teenage years I was a member of the "B'nai B'rith Youth Organization" - a youth movement that believes in volunteering and in self leadership. After high school I joined a special unit of the army called "NAHAL" (pioneer warrior youth) - a unique course that combines regular service, in which I was a counselor in an army training program mainly giving social guidance, with volunteering in a kibbutz. After two years in the army I continued working in Kibbutz Hanitha (on the northern border of Israel) for a year and then I started my first degree in Life Sciences at Tel Aviv University. After finishing my degree I worked for a year in "Strauss Dairy" as a head of their laboratory in Netivot. I enjoyed my work in the dairy lab but I missed studying and decided to continue my academic education.
I feel that my work combines advanced technical methods on the one hand with an important environmental purpose on the other hand. This year I am not only finishing my master's degree, but I am also getting married to my prince charming and I hope to continue to study for a Ph.D. in the same research area.
I want to thank you very much for your appreciation. It has driven me to prove myself and to work even harder to show that I really deserve it.

Description of research:

Characterization of a Bacterial Consortium that Debrominates Tetrabromobisphenol A under Anaerobic Conditions

Supervisors: Dr. Zeev Ronen and Dr. Ali Nejidat

Tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA) is a flame retardant that is used as an additive during the manufacture of plastic polymers and electronic circuit boards. It is a synthetic halo-aromatic compound with cytotoxic effects on aquatic life and mammalian cells. The first step of microbial degradation of TBBPA is reductive debromination by an anaerobic consortium.
Our attempts to isolate and culture the species within the consortium by standard methods were unsuccessful. This is possibly due to the complexity of isolating bacteria whose activity depends on environmental parameters as well as on interrelation with other microorganisms in the environment.
To resolve this problem, we applied Polymerase Chain Reaction - Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) technology to characterize the microbial community structure of the TBBPA debrominating consortium by using two pairs of PCR- primers targeting the 16S rDNA sequences of the domains Bacteria and Archaea. Different DGGE patterns were obtained for both domains in the presence or absence of TBBPA, indicting a substrate microbial relationship.
The rate of debromination of TBBPA was examined and showed significant changes under different culture conditions such as a variety of electron donors and inhibitors, e.g. ampicillin (a bacteria inhibitor) and BES (an archaea inhibitor).
These results may help in the design of a bioremediation scheme for TBBPA-contaminated soil, sediments and water.