From lactic acid bacteria to the future of food and medicine: Ahmad Tsjokajev at NMBU has developed methods that could transform research on bacterial carbohydrates.
Through his doctoral research, Ahmad Tsjokajev has developed new and scalable methods for producing complex carbohydrates from lactic acid bacteria with high purity, while preserving their natural structures. His findings have made it possible to discover several previously unknown carbohydrate structures. This is an important step toward understanding how these building blocks influence food, health, and future solutions in vaccines and fermentation.
Below, he answers four questions about his research:
Why is this research important?
Bacteria are found everywhere in soil, water, food, and even on our bodies and they produce huge amounts of complex carbohydrates that we still know very little about. These molecules are important: some affect the texture of food and may benefit our health while others form the building blocks of bacterial cell walls helping bacteria survive, resist viruses, and interact with our immune system. Understanding them is key for developing vaccines, antibiotics, diagnostic tools, and improving fermentation processes.
What were the goals of you phd-work?
The goal was to improve how these bacterial carbohydrates are produced and purified so scientists can study their structure more accurately and learn about how they are made, what they do, and how they can be used.
What are your most important results?
I have developed new scalable methods to produce complex carbohydrates called polysaccharides from lactic acid bacteria with high purity while keeping their natural structure intact. Using these methods, we discovered several previously unknown carbohydrate structures, showing that this approach can help reveal more in future research.
What is the potential impact of your research:
This work provides new methods and knowledge that can advance research on bacterial carbohydrates. In the long term, it could lead to better food products, new strategies against infections, and solutions to reduce losses in the fermentation industry.
FAct box:
Ahmad Tsjokajev
- Has previously studied: M.Sc. Molecular Biosciences (2019), University of Oslo and B.Sc. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry (2017), University of Oslo
- From: Trondheim, Norway
- Has now completed his PhD at NMBUs Faculty for Chemistry, Biotechnology and Food Science
- The title of the thesis in English and Norwegian:
- English: Exploration of Exopolysaccharides and Cell Wall Glycopolymers from Lactic Acid Bacteria: Method Development, Production, and Structural Characterization
- Norwegian: Utforsking av eksopolysakkarider og celleveggsglykopolymerer fra melkesyrebakterier: Metodeutvikling, produksjon og strukturkarakterisering