Cynthetica · Development of tools to increase product yields in cyanobacteria using a synthetic biology approach
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2017-06-01 → 2019-05-31
- EU contribution
- €200,195
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Development of tools to increase product yields in cyanobacteria using a synthetic biology approach
What if we could find a renewable and sustainable source of fuels, pharmaceuticals and functional foods? Cyanobacteria are fast-growing photosynthetic blue-green bacteria. This means they strip carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and use sunlight to produce oxygen and energy. Their sustainable nature have put them at the forefront of the green revolution that aims to deal with rising global challenges such as climate change and fossil fuel depletion. However, despite the enormous potential, the full exploitation of cyanobacteria is still in an early development stage. Therefore, to make Cyanobacteria competitive with current established microbial cell factories, we need to improve them. The objective of Cynthetica is to utilise Synthetic Biology to increase product yields and make green cell factories more competitive.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Cyanobacteria are versatile photosynthetic organisms that have attracted interest as a sustainable biotechnological host chassis. The toolkit for these organisms is growing fast, however, limitations such as low productivities are still a major drawback for this emerging technology. Cynthetica will address the issue of recombinant product yields and develop two separate tools that can be universally applied for product synthesis in cyanobacteria. WP1 incorporates the development of an ‘anchor tool’ to increase stability and the interaction of membrane-bound recombinant enzymes, such as cytochrome P450s, in cyanobacterial thylakoid membranes via membrane anchor engineering. This will lead to improved metabolic fluxes through the pathway and, thus, higher product yields. In WP2 a ‘capsule tool’ will be developed. Cyanobacterial strains with proteinaceous shells, so-called microcompartments, will be generated to encapsulate biosynthetic pathways for improved product yields. In WP3 the Cynthetica tools will be tested at scale for their applicability in an industrial setting during a secondment with the partner organisation AGROT.The intersectoral knowledge transfer between UCPH, AGROT and the fellow will allow for timely progression of the project, delivering cutting edge science and allowing the fellow to grow not only her scientific skill set but also reach maturity as an academic researcher. Thanks to the state-of-the art equipment and expertise available at UCPH and AGROT the project will have most favourable conditions to be a success. The Horizon 2020 framework highlights the need to develop a sustainable biotechnology sector in Europe. Cynthetica will position itself at the forefront of this emerging field by delivering innovative synthetic biology tools for establishing cyanobacteria as a powerful photosynthetic production platform.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- KOBENHAVNS UNIVERSITET · KOBENHAVNCoordinatorDenmark
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union