Descripción del proyecto
THE GROWING DEMAND BY SOCIETY FOR A HEALTHIER LIFE STYLE AND EXTENDED LIFE EXPECTANCY POSES A GREAT CHALLENGE TO THE FOOD AND PHARMA INDUSTRIES TO FIND HEALTH-BENEFICIAL NATURAL AND EFFECTIVE SOURCES FOR DRUGS AND FOOD INGREDIENTS. SOME OF THE MOLECULES DERIVED FROM THE YEAST AROMATIC AMINO ACID METABOLISM, SUCH AS HYDROXYTYROSOL, SEROTONIN AND MELATONIN, HAVE RECENTLY AROUSED A LOT OF ATTENTION DUE TO THEIR HEALTH-BENEFIT PROPERTIES. NOWADAYS MOST OF THESE BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS ARE AVAILABLE AS NUTRACEUTICAL COMPOUNDS, WHICH CAN BE PURCHASED IN DIFFERENT FORMATS, FOOD ADDITIVES OR COSMETICS. MOST OF THESE PRODUCTS ARE EITHER SYNTHESISED BY CHEMICAL SYNTHESIS, SUCH AS MELATONIN AND SEROTONIN, OR BY EXTRACTIVE PROCESSES FROM DIFFERENT OLIVE SOURCES, SUCH AS HYDROXYTYROSOL. GENERALLY, THESE PROCESSES INVOLVE TOXIC SOLVENTS, CATALYSTS AND EXPENSIVE STARTING MATERIAL MAKING IT SOMETIMES UNSUITABLE. MOREOVER, MOST OF THESE CATALYSTIC PROCESSES ARE HIGHLY EXOTHERMIC AND REQUIRE GREAT DEMAND OF ENERGY TO COOL DOWN THESE INDUSTRIAL OPERATION. THE PURIFICATION OF THE MOLECULE OF INTEREST BY USING DIFFERENT SOLVENTS HAVE THE DOUBLE-DRAWBACK THAT GENERATES CONTAMINANT RESIDUES DERIVED FROM THE EXTRACTIVE PROCESS AND THERE IS A LACK OF PURITY OF THE MOLECULE OF INTEREST IN THE FINAL PRODUCT. IN CONSEQUENCE, THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TO REPLACE THESE LESS ENVIRONMENTAL-FRIENDLY INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES BY THE BIOTECHNOLOGICAL PRODUCTION OF THESE ADDED-VALUE MOLECULES. WITHIN THE PROJECT, WE AIM TO MAKE FEASIBLE THE INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION OF THIS BIOACTIVE MOLECULES IN A SUSTAINABLE AND ENVIRONMENTAL-FRIENDLY FASHION, DRAWING THE PATH FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SIMILAR BIOTECHNOLOGICAL STRATEGIES IN THE FUTURE. IN THE CURRENT CONTEXT, THE DEVELOPMENT OF POWERFUL GENOME EDITING SYSTEMS, SUCH AS THE CRISPR-CAS9 TECHNIQUE, MAKES VERY FEASIBLE THE DESIGN OF MICROBIAL STRAINS FOR WORKING AS REAL CELL FACTORIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF DIFFERENT COMMODITIES. IN OUR OPINION, THE GLOBAL AIM OF THIS PROPOSAL PERFECTLY FITS WITH SOME OF THE GOALS OF THE PRESENT CALL, SUCH AS MITIGATION OF CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY SAVINGS, TRANSITION TO A CIRCULAR ECONOMY, AND, MOSTLY, PREVENTION AND REDUCTION OF RESIDUES AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT.THE MAIN OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO PRODUCE BIOACTIVE MOLECULES DERIVED FROM THE YEAST AROMATIC AMINO ACID METABOLISM BY USING BIOTECHNOLOGICAL METHODS THAT WILL REPLACE LESS ENVIRONMENTAL-FRIENDLY PROCESSES AND WITH LOWER YIELD. THIS MAIN GOAL CAN BE DIVIDED IN THREE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES: I) TO IMPROVE THE HYDROXYTYROSOL YIELDS BY NEW METABOLIC ENGINEERING MODIFICATIONS IN THE CURRENT OVERPRODUCER STRAIN (PATENTED STRAIN) II) TO CONSTRUCT OVERPRODUCING STRAINS OF TRYPTOPHAN-DERIVED INDOLAMINES, SEROTONIN AND MELATONIN, BY A METABOLIC ENGINEERING APPROACH, AND III) TO OPTIMISE THE PRODUCTION PROCESS BY DEFINING THE OPTIMUM SUBSTRATE AND PROCESS CONDITIONS IN SMALL SCALE FERMENTERS. WE ENVISAGE THAT THE APPROACH AND TOOLS DEVELOPED WITHIN THIS PROJECT WILL BE APPLICABLE ACROSS THE BIOPROCESS SECTOR WHERE PRODUCTION CONDITIONS CONFLICT WITH MICROBIAL GROWTH. THESE INCLUDE PRODUCT AND FEEDSTOCK TOXICITY AS WELL AS STRESS RESPONSES AS A RESULT OF FERMENTATION OR GROWTH PROCESSES. THE PROJECT WILL MAKE USE OF AN ITERATIVE COMBINATION OF SYNTHETIC AND SYSTEMS BIOLOGY APPROACHES TO CULMINATE IN IMPROVED BIOTECHNOLOGICAL OUTPUTS WHICH WILL ENABLE A FORESEEABLE COMMERCIALISATION.