Plants produce a large diversity of bioactive molecules with economic values for, for instance, pharmaceuticals, flavours, cosmetics, foods and antibiotics.
So far, systematic functional analysis of the enormous diversity of phytochemicals has been impeded by costs of their purification and/or chemical synthesis. Recent breakthroughs in the laboratory synthesis and assembly of large DNA fragments have opened up new possibilities for biotechological production of fine chemicals.
The Platform Green Synthetic Biology (PGSB) seeks to
implement these synthetic biology approaches in a highly relevant area of Dutch biotechnology research, by harnessing them to produce plant derived chemicals in microorganisms.
Firstly, PGSB will analyse the pathways and identify its components for production and accumulation of phytochemicals in plants. Secondly, PGSB will commit to rational design, synthesis and assembly of biosynthetic modules for optimal microbial expression. Thirdly PGSB will enhance expression in a microbial host optimised for precursor biosynthesis.
A pilot project will address means and bottlenecks to the production of plant flavonoids in bakers' yeast. This synthetic biology initiative will be extended to other classes of fine chemicals and other production hosts.
Additional information
Platform Green Synthetic Biology factsheet