Objective In every biotechnological production process, the ultimately crucial question is how much of the invested nutrient resources such as carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, or phosphate sources goes into the product and how much goes into production of cell mass. Even though in selected cases other considerations might be similarly important (such as product formation per time), this fundamental question determines whether a process will be successful or not. In this proposal, we suggest a completely novel approach of identifying genes and networks of central importance for allocating increasing fractions of a substrate flux to an industrial model product, vitamin B2 (riboflavin). Specifically, we propose to systematically vary, one by one and in combination, the translation levels of proteins belonging to the core metabolism of Escherichia coli as a model production organism and subsequently to evaluate the (millions of) resulting different strains for channeling steadily increasing substrate fluxes to product formation instead of growth. Due to the application of a novel nanoliter reactor technology, the evaluation of variant strains can be performed in ultra-high throughput mode (several millions per week) under substrate-limiting conditions, which is the most accurate reflection of the physiological challenges of producer cells in industrially relevant settings. This ability to screen large numbers of variant strains under substrate limiting conditions is fundamentally different from most other screening procedures and certainly unique at this level of throughput. Fields of science natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculesproteins Programme(s) FP7-PEOPLE - Specific programme "People" implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013) Topic(s) FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF - Marie-Curie Action: "Intra-European fellowships for career development" Call for proposal FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IEF See other projects for this call Funding Scheme MC-IEF - Intra-European Fellowships (IEF) Coordinator EIDGENOESSISCHE TECHNISCHE HOCHSCHULE ZUERICH EU contribution € 199 317,60 Address Raemistrasse 101 8092 Zuerich Switzerland See on map Region Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Zürich Zürich Activity type Higher or Secondary Education Establishments Administrative Contact Sven Panke (Prof.) Links Contact the organisation Opens in new window Website Opens in new window Total cost No data
