In this work package, Prof. Dr. Bernd Kreikemeyer and his team are investigating the extent to which selected Baltic Sea algae and their extracts or fractions can modulate intestinal health. They will performin vitro studies and examine biological samples, obtained during the algae feeding studies.

Prof. Dr. Bernd Kreikemeyer's team is using human intestinal epithelial cells in a co-culture model under physiological and inflammatory conditions to evaluate/study potential therapeutic effects of algae extracts. Furthermore, the effect of extracts on both beneficial and pathogenic gut bacterial will be investigated. 

To evaluate the health benefits of algae supplementation, they will analyze milk and stool samples for microbial composition using 16S rRNA sequencing. 

The OWL research group  also supports the team by analyzing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in cow’s milk.

The aim of WP3 is the identification and evaluation of probiotic bacteria. The work is divided into four main phases:

• Evaluation of the effect of algae on intestinal epithelial
• Evaluation of the effect of algae on gut bacteria  
• Evaluation of health benefits of algae feeding in cows on the immune system
• Identification and evaluation of probiotic bacteria