13TSB_SynBio A synthetic biology-based approach to engineering triterpenoid saponins and optimisation for industrial applications

皂苷作为发泡剂已经在饮料、食品和化妆品行业中得到了工业应用。然而，尽管文献记载了三萜皂苷具有广泛的物理和生物活性，但其结构的广度尚未得到充分的探索或开发，其应用受到植物提取物的可及性和可获得性的限制。该项目将展示优化三萜皂苷结构的功效和功能，用于化学工业的应用。皂苷衍生物将使用合成生物学工具包和代谢途径表达在烟叶宿主中进行工程设计。将对提取的皂苷进行物理性质和应用筛选评估。构建结构-功能规则，迭代优化皂素结构的功能。将评估生物技术平台、扩大规模和商业化生产铅皂苷的选择。

Saponins have already found industrial application as foaming agents in the beverage, food and cosmetics industries. However, the breadth of triterpene saponin structures has not been fully explored or exploited, and their application limited by accessibility and availability from plant extracts, depite broad-ranging physical and bioactive properties documented in the literature. This project will demonstrate the optimisation of triterpene saponin structures for efficacy and functionality for applications in the chemical industries. Saponin derivatives will be engineered using a synthetic biology tool kit and metabolic pathway expression in a Nicotiana benthamiana host. Extracted saponins will be evaluated for physical properties and in application screens. Structure-function rules will be built to iteratively optimise the saponin structures for functionality. The options for a biotechnology platform, scale-up and commercial production of the lead saponins will be assessed.