Objective Europe needs a sustainable chemical industry which will only be realized by new breakthrough technologies. Industrial biotechnology is established in chemical manufacturing, offering more efficient, more specific, safer and less energy demanding production, but is held back by the limited number of enzyme classes in industrial use. This project opens up an important new enzyme class of tungsten-containing enzymes (W-enzymes) which catalyse amazing chemical reactions involving challenging low redox potential reduction reactions, but are currently impossible to obtain economically and on scale to match industrial needs. We need to produce W-enzymes using an industrial workhorse micro-organism such as E. coli. Yet, we discovered that W-cofactor biosynthesis is the bottleneck preventing successful production of W-enzymes in E. coli. We can solve this challenge by using cutting-edge computational enzyme design approaches we recently developed, to create a completely new W-cofactor biosynthesis pathway for E. coli. The W-BioCat strains developed in this project will enable expression of new W-enzymes from genetic databases, and facilitate production of new engineered W-enzymes. The catalytic potential of these new W-enzymes will be established and implemented in new processes. Exciting new reaction scope in biocatalytic CO2 reduction to valuable chemicals and Birch reduction of aromatic compounds will be explored, alongside the already-established and broadly applicable carboxylic acid reductions. W-BioCat will be the breakthrough to make W-enzymes accessible for industry. As a proof of concept, a hydrogen-driven process to convert plant-derived oleic acid to the emollient ester oleyl oleate will be created. Oleyl oleate is used in many cosmetic products used daily by millions of people. This process will be demonstrated in multi-gram yield in scalable, industrially-relevant hydrogenation reactors, together with market research to address a pathway to commercialisation. Fields of science natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryorganic acidsnatural scienceschemical sciencesinorganic chemistrytransition metalsnatural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryaromatic compoundsnatural scienceschemical sciencescatalysisbiocatalysisnatural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteinsenzymes Keywords tungsten enzymes cofactor biosynthesis computational protein design carboxylic acid reduction fatty acids renewable hydrogen hydrogenase bioinformatics Programme(s) HORIZON.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC) Main Programme Topic(s) HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDEROPEN-01-01 - EIC Pathfinder Open Call for proposal HORIZON-EIC-2023-PATHFINDEROPEN-01 See other projects for this call Funding Scheme HORIZON-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants Coordinator TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITEIT DELFT Net EU contribution € 1 290 439,75 Address STEVINWEG 1 2628 CN Delft Netherlands See on map Region West-Nederland Zuid-Holland Delft en Westland Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 1 290 439,75 Participants (3) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all WEIZMANN INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE Israel Net EU contribution € 469 135,00 Address HERZL STREET 234 7610001 Rehovot See on map Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 469 135,00 CONSORZIO INTERUNIVERSITARIO RISONANZE MAGNETICHE DI METALLO PROTEINE Italy Net EU contribution € 471 000,00 Address PIAZZA DI SAN MARCO 4 50121 FIRENZE See on map Region Centro (IT) Toscana Firenze Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 471 000,00 EVOENZYME SL Spain Net EU contribution € 200 000,00 Address CALLE GRECIA NR 80 PUERTA 4 VALDEMORO 28341 Madrid See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region Comunidad de Madrid Comunidad de Madrid Madrid Activity type Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost € 200 000,00 Partners (2) Sort alphabetically Sort by Net EU contribution Expand all Collapse all THE CHANCELLOR, MASTERS AND SCHOLARS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address WELLINGTON SQUARE UNIVERSITY OFFICES OX1 2JD Oxford See on map Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data HYDREGEN LIMITED United Kingdom Net EU contribution € 0,00 Address 30 UPPER HIGH STREET OX9 3EZ Thame See on map SME The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed. Yes Region South East (England) Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Oxfordshire Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Participation in EU R&I programmes Opens in new window HORIZON collaboration network Opens in new window Total cost No data
