Objective
Geobacillus spp are thermophilic Gram positive bacteria which are specialists in the degradation of hemicellulose derived from renewable biological feedstocks and the supervisor’s group has recently engineered strains able to degrade cellulose. Some of the strains are facultative anaerobes which can grow anaerobically and produce fermentation products such as lactate and ethanol. Hence they are an ideal platform for producing fermentation products from renewable carbohydrate resources, such as lignocellulose. Recent genome sequencing has shown that some strains have the ability to produce proteinaceous micro-compartments, known from other organisms to host reactions which produce unstable/highly reactive intermediates, and these have been observed by EM analysis in the lab of the supervisor.
In this project the MC fellow will exploit some novel technology under development in the lab of the supervisor to develop thermostable alpha-keto acid decarboxylases, which are not typically present in thermophiles. These produce reactive aldehydes which cause toxicity to producing cells, even in the presence of a cognate alcohol dehydrogenase, but this can potentially be reduced by targeting the decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase to a protein micro-compartment. Therefore, the aim of this project is to establish the rules for targeting enzymes to protein micro-compartments in Geobacillus spp and exploit these using thermophilic decarboxylase – dehydrogenase combinations to produce 1) ethanol, 2) isobutanol. The final constructs will be evaluated against real lignocellulosic feedstocks in the lab of the industrial collaborator ReBio Ltd. The project will provide an in depth training in metabolic and cellular engineering, employing synthetic biology strategies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aldehydes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
- natural sciences biological sciences synthetic biology
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-CAR - CAR – Career Restart panel
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
BA2 7AY BATH
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.