분자진단및합성생물학연구실

In metabolic engineering, enhanced production of value-added chemicals requires precise flux control between growth-essential competing and production pathways, and optimized precursor balance. By engineering genetically tractable strains using these metabolic engineering strategies, efficient conversion of biomass into bioactive compounds, biofuels, and bioplastics can be achieved. Escherichia coli has been widely regarded as a genetically tractable strain due to its well-characterized genetics, the availability of a wide range of molecular tools, and its high transformation efficiency. Brown macroalgae are emerging as a sustainable alternative feedstock with the potential to alleviate concerns about competition for food resources and the limitations of conventional agricultural cultivation. However, about 50% of the carbon components of brown macroalgae are composed of alginate. Most conventional microorganisms cannot metabolize alginate without additional pretreatment, limiting its use as a feedstock. In MDSB lab, we isolated and characterized a fast-growing, alginate-utilizing microorganism, named Vibrio sp. dhg. In contrast to Vibrio natriegens, this strain is capable of robust growth with alginate as the sole carbon source. It has emerged as a promising platform for the efficient conversion of brown macroalgae sugars into diverse value-added biochemicals. They are also being engineered, and other novel strains are being identified. Synthetic biology is a emerging research field to redesign and construct the biological parts, devices, and systems for useful and practical purpose. We are currently developing new molecular tools, and applying these cutting-edge technologies to design and construct high performance microorganism (mainly Escherichia coli, and Vibrio sp