Predictive dynamic control accurately maps the design space for 2,3-butanediol production.

2,3-Butanediol is a valuable raw material for many industries. Compared to its classical production from petroleum, novel fermentation-based manufacturing is an ecologically superior alternative. To be also economically feasible, the production bioprocesses need to be well optimized.

Development of a novel tobramycin dependent riboswitch.

We herein report the selection and characterization of a new riboswitch dependent on the aminoglycoside tobramycin. Its dynamic range rivals even the tetracycline dependent riboswitch to be the current best performing, synthetic riboswitch that controls translation initiation. The riboswitch was selected with RNA Capture-SELEX, a method that not only selects for binding but also for structural changes in aptamers on binding.

Efficient production of bacterial antibiotics aminoriboflavin and roseoflavin in eukaryotic microorganisms, yeasts.

Background: Actinomycetes Streptomyces davaonensis and Streptomyces cinnabarinus synthesize a promising broad-spectrum antibiotic roseoflavin, with its synthesis starting from flavin mononucleotide and proceeding through an immediate precursor, aminoriboflavin, that also has antibiotic properties. Roseoflavin accumulation by the natural producers is rather low, whereas aminoriboflavin accumulation is negligible. Yeasts have many advantages as biotechnological producers relative to bacteria, however, no recombinant producers of bacterial antibiotics in yeasts are known.

Process engineering towards an oxidative cellular state improves 3-hydroxypropionic acid production with Lentilactobacillus diolivorans.

3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is among the top platform chemicals proposed for bio based production by microbial fermentation from renewable resources. A promising renewable substrate for 3-HP production is crude glycerol. Only a few microorganisms can efficiently convert glycerol to 3-HP.

Insights into the glycerol transport of Yarrowia lipolytica.

Cellular membranes separate cells from the environment and hence, from molecules essential for their survival. To overcome this hurdle, cells developed specialized transport proteins for the transfer of metabolites across these membranes. Crucial metabolites that need to cross the membrane of each living organism, are the carbon sources.

The metabolic growth limitations of petite cells lacking the mitochondrial genome.

Eukaryotic cells can survive the loss of their mitochondrial genome, but consequently suffer from severe growth defects. 'Petite yeasts', characterized by mitochondrial genome loss, are instrumental for studying mitochondrial function and physiology. However, the molecular cause of their reduced growth rate remains an open question.

Slow Growth and Increased Spontaneous Mutation Frequency in Respiratory Deficient Yeast Suppressed by a Dominant Mutation in .

A yeast deletion mutation in the nuclear-encoded gene, , which codes for a mitochondrial ribosomal protein, led to slow growth on glucose, the inability to grow on glycerol or ethanol, and loss of mitochondrial DNA and respiration. We noticed that yeast readily obtains secondary mutations that suppress aspects of this phenotype, including its growth defect. We characterized and identified a dominant missense suppressor mutation in the gene.

Identification of the citrate exporter Cex1 of Yarrowia lipolytica.

Yarrowia lipolytica is a yeast with many talents, one of them being the production of citric acid. Although the citrate biosynthesis is well studied, little is known about the transport mechanism by which citrate is exported. To gain better insight into this mechanism, we set out to identify a transporter involved in citrate export of Y.

Microbial 2-butanol production with .

Background: Biobutanol has great potential as biofuel of the future. However, only a few organisms have the natural ability to produce butanol. Amongst them, spp.

Golden Gate-based metabolic engineering strategy for wild-type strains of Yarrowia lipolytica.

The yeast Yarrowia lipolytica represents a future microbial cell factory for numerous applications in a bio-based economy. Outstanding feature of this yeast is the metabolic flexibility in utilising various substrates (sugars, fatty acids, glycerol, etc.).

3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde production from crude glycerol by with enhanced glycerol uptake.

Background: In their quest for sustainable development and effective management of greenhouse gas emissions, our societies pursue a shift away from fossil-based resources towards renewable resources. With 95% of our current transportation energy being petroleum based, the application of alternative, carbon-neutral products-among them biodiesel-is inevitable. In order to enhance the cost structure of biodiesel biorefineries, the valorization of the crude glycerol waste stream into high-value platform chemicals is of major importance.

GoldenPiCS: a Golden Gate-derived modular cloning system for applied synthetic biology in the yeast Pichia pastoris.

Background: State-of-the-art strain engineering techniques for the host Pichia pastoris (syn. Komagataella spp.) include overexpression of homologous and heterologous genes, and deletion of host genes.

The Efficient Clade: Lactic Acid Bacteria for Industrial Chemical Production.

Lactic acid bacteria are well known to be beneficial for food production and, as probiotics, they are relevant for many aspects of health. However, their potential as cell factories for the chemical industry is only emerging. Many physiological traits of these microorganisms, evolved for optimal growth in their niche, are also valuable in an industrial context.

An efficient tool for metabolic pathway construction and gene integration for Aspergillus niger.

Metabolic engineering requires functional genetic tools for easy and quick generation of multiple pathway variants. A genetic engineering toolbox for A. niger is presented, which facilitates the generation of strains carrying heterologous expression cassettes at a defined genetic locus.

Metabolic Flexibility of Growing on Glycerol.

The yeast is a fascinating microorganism with an amazing metabolic flexibility. This yeast grows very well on a wide variety of carbon sources from alkanes over lipids, to sugars and glycerol. accumulates a wide array of industrially relevant metabolites.

Effect of carbon pulsing on the redox household of Lactobacillus diolivorans in order to enhance 1,3-propanediol production.

This study investigates potential limitations of 1,3-propanediol formation by Lactobacillus diolivorans. Particular focus is given to enhanced glycerol utilization as well as the elimination of by-product formation. The key aspect is a modulation of the redox household by process engineering through the application of carbon pulses.

Complete genome sequence and transcriptome regulation of the pentose utilizing yeast Sugiyamaella lignohabitans.

Efficient conversion of hexoses and pentoses into value-added chemicals represents one core step for establishing economically feasible biorefineries from lignocellulosic material. While extensive research efforts have recently provided advances in the overall process performance, the quest for new microbial cell factories and novel enzymes sources is still open. As demonstrated recently the yeast Sugiyamaella lignohabitans (formerly Candida lignohabitans) represents a promising microbial cell factory for the production of organic acids from lignocellulosic hydrolysates.

Identification of Oxygen-Responsive Transcripts in the Silage Inoculant Lactobacillus buchneri CD034 by RNA Sequencing.

The Lactobacillus buchneri CD034 strain, known to improve the ensiling process of green fodder and the quality of the silage itself was transcriptionally analyzed by sequencing of transcriptomes isolated under anaerobic vs. aerobic conditions. L.

LC-MS/MS-based analysis of coenzyme A and short-chain acyl-coenzyme A thioesters.

Absolute quantification of intracellular coenzyme A (CoA), coenzyme A disulfide, and short-chain acyl-coenzyme A thioesters was addressed by developing a tailored metabolite profiling method based on liquid chromatography in combination with tandem mass spectrometric detection (LC-MS/MS). A reversed phase chromatographic separation was established which is capable of separating a broad spectrum of CoA, its corresponding derivatives, and their isomers despite the fact that no ion-pairing reagent was used (which was considered as a key advantage of the method). Excellent analytical figures of merit such as high sensitivity (LODs in the nM to sub-nM range) and high repeatability (routinely 4 %; N = 15) were obtained.

Organic acids from lignocellulose: Candida lignohabitans as a new microbial cell factory.

Biorefinery applications require microbial cell factories for the conversion of various sugars derived from lignocellulosic material into value-added chemicals. Here, the capabilities of the yeast Candida lignohabitans to utilize a range of such sugars is characterized. Substrates efficiently converted by this yeast include the pentoses xylose and arabinose.

Heading for an economic industrial upgrading of crude glycerol from biodiesel production to 1,3-propanediol by Lactobacillus diolivorans.

Lactobacillus diolivorans was evaluated as a potential organism for production of 1,3-propanediol under industrially relevant conditions. Crude glycerol of different origins has been tested and showed no inhibitory effects on growth or production. Using crude glycerol from biodiesel production from palm oil 85 g/l 1,3-propanediol have been obtained with a productivity of 0.

Genetic engineering of Lactobacillus diolivorans.

In this study, we developed a toolbox for genetic manipulation of Lactobacillus diolivorans, a promising production organism for 1,3-propanediol from glycerol. Two major findings play a key role for successful transformation of this organism: (1) the absence of a native plasmid, because a native plasmid is a major obstacle for transformation of L. diolivorans, and (2) the absence of DNA methylation.

Pichia pastoris: protein production host and model organism for biomedical research.

Pichia pastoris is the most frequently used yeast system for heterologous protein production today. The last few years have seen several products based on this platform reach approval as biopharmaceutical drugs. Successful glycoengineering to humanize N-glycans is further fuelling this development.

From rumen to industry.

The rumen is one of the most complicated and most fascinating microbial ecosystems in nature. A wide variety of microbial species, including bacteria, fungi and protozoa act together to bioconvert (ligno)cellulosic plant material into compounds, which can be taken up and metabolized by the ruminant. Thus, the rumen perfectly resembles a solution to a current industrial problem: the biorefinery, which aims at the bioconversion of lignocellulosic material into fuels and chemicals.