Metabolic Engineering
Based on alternative and promising production organisms such as Paenibacillus polymyxa and Xanthomonas campestris, we optimize metabolic pathways for the production of various chemical building blocks and polymers based on renewable raw materials. This is done in order to realize sustainable production in the sense of the bioeconomy.
Development of molecular biological tools
For the efficient modification of the selected alternative production organisms, we develop tailor-made and universal molecular biological tools such as CRISPR-Cas systems for deletion, integration and the targeted regulation of various genes. We use these tools specifically to establish new chassis organisms.
Microbial polysaccharides - in vivo biopolymer engineering
The biosynthetic pathways of these valuable biopolymers are extremely complex, but also offer an excellent opportunity to create tailor-made polysaccharide variants. For this we use targeted metabolic engineering to generate higher productivity and new polysaccharide variants, and to investigate the biosynthetic pathways. The polymers are finally rheologically characterized.
Biotechnology pilot plant
The biotechnology pilot plant at the IMMB offers the possibility for the scale-up of bioprocesses. With bioreactors from 2L, 10L, 30L up to 500L it enables the optimization of fermentative processes and the establishment under industrial process conditions. It also enables the production of relevant quantities of demonstration product, as is often necessary in larger joint projects. The cells are separated using continuous centrifuges and a plate separator, and a cross-flow filtration unit is available for downstream processing (DSP). The fermentation units as well as the DSP are in constant expansion. If you are interested in using the biotechnology pilot plant, please contact jochen.schmid@uni-muenster.de.