High throughput culturing system for evolutionary engineering

基因组学革命为应用生物技术解决一系列实际问题提供了前所未有的机会，包括1)以最小的环境影响有效地从硫化物矿物中提取金属，2)鉴定和表征与生物精炼相关的新型酶，3)用于生产化学品的生物催化剂的设计，以及4)重组蛋白的生产和表征。所有这些活动都需要在受控条件下并行培养细菌。在这项提案中，我们要求资金购买高通量生物反应器系统，该系统将允许在多种环境下受控条件下评估微生物新陈代谢，并将显著加快生物技术的应用，以设计生物浸出(提取金属)、生物化学品和蛋白质生产的新生物工艺。

The genomics revolution has provided an unprecedented opportunity to apply biotechnology for the solution of a range of practical problems including 1) efficient extraction of metals from sulfide minerals with minimal environmental impact, 2) identification and characterization of novel enzymes that are relevant to biorefineries, 3) design of biocatalyst for the production of chemicals and 4) recombinant protein production and characterization. All of these activities require the parallel cultivation of bacteria under controlled conditions. In this proposal, we request funds to buy a high-throughput bioreactor system that will allow the evaluation of microbial metabolism under controlled conditions in multiple environments and will significantly accelerate the application of biotechnology for engineering novel bioprocesses for bioleaching (extraction of metals), biochemicals and protein production.