Project responsibles
Prof. Marie F. Gorwa-Grauslund (MGG)
Dr. Magnus Carlquist (MC)

Chiral compounds, which are essential intermediates in the production of a wide range of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals, have traditionally been produced by chiral synthesis. However biocatalysis represents an alternative method where the stereoselectivity of enzymes can be used to create chiral intermediates.

Projects at Applied Microbiology aim at designing whole-cell biocatalysts for the cost-efficient production of chiral alcohols and/or amines. For this purpose, microorganisms such as the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the bacterium Escherichia coli are engineered in order to reach high product yield, productivity and stereoselectivity. Strategies include (i) process improvement (MC), (ii) increase of co-factor availability and enzyme activity (MGG & MC), (iii) screening for more efficient enzymes via metagenomics (MGG) and (iv) analysis of cell behavior at the single cell level (MC).