Metabolic Engineering

Using alternative and promising production organisms such as Paenibacillus polymyxa, Xanthomonas campestris, Pseudomonas fluorescens, or Candida viswanathii we optimize metabolic pathways for the production of various chemical building blocks and biopolymers based on renewable raw materials. Our goal is to realize sustainable production processes in the sense of bioeconomy.

Development of molecular biological tools

To efficiently modify the selected alternative production organisms, we develop tailor-made and universal molecular biological tools such as CRISPR-Cas, Cre-loxP, and other homologous recombination systems for deletion, integration, and the targeted regulation of various genes. We use these tools specifically to establish new chassis organisms for synthetic biology driven approaches.

Microbial polysaccharides - in vivo biopolymer engineering

The biosynthetic pathways of microbial polysaccharides are extremely complex but offer an excellent opportunity to create tailor-made polysaccharide variants. By applying the developed molecular biology tools, we use targeted metabolic engineering to generate new polysaccharide variants, and higher productivities and to investigate the biosynthetic pathways. Finally, we completely characterize the monomer composition and rheological properties of all the polymers we produce.

Biotechnology pilot plant

The biotechnology pilot plant at the IMMB offers the possibility for bioprocess scale-up and the production of relevant product quantities, as often required for larger collaborative projects and process validations. In total, 24 bioreactors with working volumes of 1 L, 2 L, 10 L, 30 L & 500 L enable optimization and stepwise scale-up of fermentative processes under industrial process conditions. Our downstream processing (DSP) capabilities include continuous centrifugation (two high-speed centrifuges & plate separator), cross-flow filtration with high flexibility in throughput and filter cut-off range, product drying (vacuum drying oven & freeze dryer) and product milling (centrifugal and ball mills). We are constantly expanding our fermentation and DSP capabilities. If you are interested in using the biotechnology pilot plant, please contact jochen.schmid@uni-muenster.de.

Materials Science

Focusing on the application of polysaccharides, our group develops films, gels, and cryogels for distinct areas of interest, such as packaging, energy storage, and coatings. The tailor-made polysaccharide architectures obtained by genetically engineered strains are applied to produce materials with specific properties. In this context, we investigate novel formulations based on microbial EPS blends and additives.

Microbe Portfolio