Projects

Biomining is a biotechnological process carried out in many parts of the world that exploits acid loving microorganisms to extract metals from sulphide minerals. One industrial biomining method is called ‘heap bioleaching’ where typically copper containing minerals are piled into very large heaps, acid and microorganisms are added to the top and the soluble metal is collected at the heap base.

The role of the different types of microbes in the process is to speed up metal solubilisation by oxidising ...

Microbial strains used in biotechnological industry need to produce their biotechnological products at high yield and at the same time they are desired to be robust to the intrinsic nutrient dynamics of large-scale bioreactors, most noticeably to transient limitations of carbon sources and oxygen. The engineering principles for robustness of metabolism to nutrient dynamics are however not yet well understood. The ROBUSTYEAST project aims to reveal these principles for microbial strain improvement ...

The MycoSynVac project AIMS at using cutting-edge synthetic biology methodologies to engineer Mycoplasma pneumoniae as a universal chassis for vaccination. Designing a universal Mycoplasma chassis that can be deployed as single- or multi-vaccine in a range of animal hosts. Annually, infections caused by Mycoplasma species in poultry, cows, and pigs result in multimillion Euro losses in the USA and Europe. There is no effective vaccination against many Mycoplasmas that infect pets, humans and farm ...

D-xylose is a major component of lignocellulose and is after D-glucose the most abundant monosaccharide on earth. However, D-xylose cannot be naturally utilised by several industrially relevant microorganisms. On the way to a strong bio-based economy in Europe, this widely available feedstock has to be made accessible for the sustainable microbial synthesis of value-added chemical building blocks to be used in a broad range of applications. The project aims at engineering Corynebacterium glutamicum ...

Exploiting native endowments by re-factoring, re-programming and implementing novel control loops in Pseudomonas putida for bespoke biocatalysis. The EmPowerPutida project aims to engineer the lifestyle of Pseudomonas putida to generate a tailored, re-factored chassis for the production of so far non-accessible biological compounds. Pseudomonas putida is a bacterium with a highly versatile metabolism, including the capability to degrade or produce organic chemicals.

There is an urgent need for novel antibiotics to fight life-threatening infections and to counteract the increasing problem of propagating antibiotic resistance. Recently, new molecular genetic and biochemical tools have provided insight into the enormous unexploited genetic pool of environmental microbial biodiversity for new antibiotic compounds. New tools for more efficiently lifting this hidden treasure are needed to strengthen competitiveness of European industry, as well as for a cost-saving ...

We will contribute to the LiSyM Research Network an open source, freely available and reproducible multiscale model of the human liver from single cell metabolism to whole liver function. The model will be available in existing standards of systems biology, provide standardized interfaces for data integration and be fully annotated to available biological, medical and computational ontologies. All data, models and source code will be shared within the LiSyM Research Network and made available to ...

The workshop focuses on the publication, curation, retrieval, and usage of kinetic data from the reaction kinetics database SABIO-RK and on the use of data in modeling. There will be experience reports from scientists who successfully used experimental data to formulate or verify biological hypotheses with the computer, and you will experience how experimental data can be used with computational models.

Multi-level mathematical modeling of erythropoiesis for optimized expansion of erythroid progenitor cells and improved treatment regimes

Hypoglycaemia and lactic acidosis are key diagnostics for poor chances of survival in malaria patients. In this project we aim to test to what extent the metabolic activity of Plasmodium falciparum contributes to a changed glucose metabolism in malaria patients. The approach is to start with detailed bottom up models for the parasite and then merge these with more coarse grained models at the whole body level.

Translating Systems Virology data into broad-spectrum antiviral Drugs

Systems Biology studies the properties and phenotypes that emerge from the interaction of biomolecules where such properties are not obvious from those of the individual molecules. By connecting fields such as genomics, proteomics, bioinformatics, mathematics, cell biology, genetics, mathematics, engineering and computer sciences, Systems Biology enables discovery of yet unknown principles underlying the functioning of living cells. At the same time, testable and predictive models of complex ...

ZucAt - Sucrose (from german Zucker) translocation in Arabidopsis thaliana. Sucrose translocation between plant tissues is crucial for growth, development and reproduction of plants. Systemic analysis of this metabolic process and underlying regulatory processes can help to achieve better understanding of carbon distribution within the plant and the formation of phenotypic traits. Sucrose translocation from ‘source’ tissues (e.g. mesophyll) to ‘sink’ tissues (e.g. root) is tightly bound to the ...

The Molecular Systems Biology project holds information for reproducing simulation figures in the journal. This can include experimental data files, model files and manuscript information.

Bistable switches are the key elements of the regulatory networks governing cell development, differentiation and life-strategy decisions. Transcriptional noise is a main determinant that causes switching between different states in bistable systems. By using the human pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae as a model bacterium, we will investigate how transcriptional fidelity and processivity influence (noisy) gene expression and participate in bistability. To study this question, we will use both ...

The SilicoTryp project aims at the creation of a “Silicon Trypanosome”, a comprehensive, experiment-based, multi-scale mathematical model of trypanosome physiology. Trypanosomes are blood-stream parasites transmitted by tsetse flies; they cause African sleeping sickness in humans and livestock. Currently available drugs have severe side effects, and the parasites are rapidly developing resistance. In this project, we collect a wide range of new experimental data on the parasite in its various ...

Ion and solute homeostasis in enteric bacteria: an integrated view generated from the interface of modelling and biological experimentation

Global metabolic switching in Streptomyces coelicolor

Antibiotics are made during the second phase of growth when there is a transition in metabolism from primary to secondary metabolism. Primary metabolism is growth related and involves all the normal cellular activities associated with cell growth and division. Whereas secondary metabolism is non-growth linked and is non-essential but many important activities occur during this phase which help the bacterium survive.

As an Innovative Training Network (ITN) , our approach to bringing about innovation is via education. The 15 Early Stage Researchers that join our project will gain multidisciplinary and cutting-edge expertise from our hosting institutions and associated partners, which is required to manipulate biological catalysts for meeting tomorrow’s demanding challenges in sustainable production processes.

CC-TOP is focused on exploiting the potential benefits of C-C bond forming enzymes (“carboligases”) ...

The Systems Biology Service Center of de.NBI (de.NBI-SysBio) provides bioinformatics support and a standards-based data management for systems biology projects, with focus on the provenance of experimental results and on the reproducibility of modeling experiments, as well as high-quality curated biochemical data to modelers and experimentalists. The node concentrates on two tools for the data management in life sciences research: SEEK, a catalogue for storage, registration and exchange of data ...

WooBAdh project aims to study the feasibility of replacing formaldehyde in wood adhesives by natural components derived from wood or other vegetable matter. The consortium will develop new bioadhesives which are able to provide a holistic solution to the current emissions challenges facing the wood-based composites industry. The proposed solution is focused on different modifications of polyphenols, namely lignin and tannins, for producing bioadhesives that do not contain formaldehyde in its ...