Bioprospecting and synthetic biology for novel microbial pigments based on Raman spectroscopy-guided single cell sorting

学生战略优先领域：合成生物学关键词：拉曼光谱、微流体、颜料、蓝藻、生物前景颜料在医药和保健食品工业中有许多应用。海洋为新型颜料提供了一种尚未开发的、可持续的资源。海洋蓝藻在进化过程中适应了海底的各种生态位，产生了特定于菌株的色素调色板，以最佳方式获取可用的光合作用波长，同时保护细胞免受光损伤。微生物生物勘探是在高价值市场(类胡萝卜素和藻胆蛋白)扩大产品多样性的一条很有前途的途径。这个项目的目标是1。在苏格兰沿海水域鉴定产生新型色素的蓝藻菌株，2.鉴定天然菌株中支持色素产生的基因，3.将它们转移到快速生长的实验室菌株进行路径优化。学生将从苏格兰海岸收集海水样本，并对它们进行基于拉曼光谱的自动细胞分选，这使得具有良好光谱特性的单个细胞可以被拯救出来，供实验室后续培养。这些已建立的菌株将使用组学技术进行表征，以确定支持色素生产的分子实体。然后，学生将使用合成生物学方法在聚球藻PCC 7002中进行途径优化。学生将接受海洋生理学(SAMS，Oban)、拉曼光谱和微流体学(格拉斯哥大学工程学院)、组学技术(格拉斯哥多组学)和分子/合成生物学(UofG，MVLS-MCSB)的培训。

Studentship strategic priority area:Synthetic BiologyKeywords: Raman spectroscopy, microfluidics, pigments, cyanobacteria, bioprospectingPigments have many applications in the pharma- and nutraceutical industry. The oceans offer a largely untapped, sustainable resource for novel pigments. Marine cyanobacteria have evolutionary adapted to a wide range of niches in the seabed, resulting in strain-specific pigment palettes that optimally harvest the available photosynthetic wavelengths while protecting the cells against photo-damage. Microbial bioprospecting is a promising route to expand product diversity in the high-value market (carotenoids and phycobilins). The aims of this project are to1. identify cyanobacterial strains in Scottish coastal waters that produce novel pigments,2. identify the genes that underpin pigment production in the natural strains,3. transfer them to a fast-growing lab strain for pathway optimization.The student will collect seawater samples from the Scottish coast, and subject them to automated Raman spectroscopy-based cell-sorting, which allows single cells with promising spectral properties to be rescued for subsequent culturing in the lab. The established strains will be characterized using 'omics' technology to pinpoint the molecular entities underpinning pigment production. The student will then use a synthetic biology approach for pathway optimization in Synechococcus PCC 7002.The student will receive training in marine phycology (SAMS, Oban), Raman spectroscopy and microfluidics (University of Glasgow, Engineering), omics technologies (Glasgow Polyomics) and molecular/synthetic biology (UofG, MVLS -MCSB).