Biology Department Seminar

The growing interest in a "biomass-based" economy has led to new efforts to construct and improve microorganisms for producing chemicals. Our focus is on the design and construction of novel biosynthetic pathways for specified target compounds. This "retro-biosynthetic design" approach relies on advances in protein engineering to propose enzymatic conversions by considerations of only the functional groups involved. It is also aided by advancements in the development of new tools under the umbrella of Synthetic Biology that facilitate re-engineering of biological systems. Novel pathway designs for two "value-added" compounds will be presented. In the first case, we are exploring alternative biosynthetic routes towards the natural product, glucaric acid. In the second, we have developed a novel pathway towards a compound with no identified natural source, 3-hydroxy-gamma-butyrolactone. Considerations for the design and construction of these pathways as well as their influence on the synthesis of other value-added biochemicals will be presented.