Collaborative Research: Exploiting synthetic GPCRs and mating factors as extracellular sensors for substrate-dependent assembly of complex cellulosomes

1263719/1263768/1263799 Chen/Robinson/Da Silva阻碍生物质更广泛地用于能源和化学品生产的主要障碍是缺乏克服这些材料顽固性的低成本技术。纤维素体是在许多厌氧微生物中发现的一种自组装的多酶复合体，对生物质解聚具有很高的效率。这组研究人员已经成功地开发了一个合成酵母联合体，展示了一种用于生物燃料生产的功能性纤维素体。然而，鉴于联合体中涉及的不同成员的复杂性，设计单元间的协调是维持所需整体功能的关键。他们在这个项目中的目标是设计合成的细胞外传感器，这些传感器可以用来调节酶和适配器支架的分泌，这些支架参与了以底物依赖的方式组装适当的复杂纤维素体结构。这项拟议的研究具有重要的科学意义，因为它将为细胞外传感器的设计提供一个总体框架，这些传感器对其他生物处理或生物医学应用非常重要。此外，参与这项研究的研究生将获得一个综合的视角，了解连接生物化学、现代遗传学和过程工程的重要接口和协同作用，以解决我们社会的一个重要问题。

1263719/1263768/1263799Chen/Robinson/Da Silva The primary obstacle impeding the more widespread use of biomass for energy and chemical production is the absence of a low-cost technology for overcoming the recalcitrance of these materials. Cellulosomes are self-assembled multi-enzyme complexes found in many anaerobic microorganisms that are highly efficient for biomass depolymerization. The group of investigators have successfully developed a synthetic yeast consortium displaying a functional cellulosome for biofuel production. However, given the complexity of the different members involved in the consortium, engineering cell to cell coordination is the key in maintaining the required overall functionality. Their goal in this project is to design synthetic extracellular sensors that can be used to regulate the secretion of enzymes and adaptor scaffoldins involved in the assembly of the appropriate complex cellulosome structure in a substrate-dependent manner. The proposed research is scientifically significant because it will provide a general framework for the design of extracellular sensors that are important for other bioprocessing or biomedical applications. Moreover, graduate students participating in this research will gain an integrated perspective of the important interfaces and synergies connecting biochemistry, modern genetics, and process engineering to solve an important problem of our society.