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

皂苷已经在饮料、食品和化妆品工业中作为发泡剂得到了工业应用。然而，三萜皂苷结构的广泛性还没有得到充分的探索和开发，它们的应用受到植物提取物可获得性和可用性的限制，与文献中记载的广泛的物理和生物活性特性背道而驰。该项目将展示三萜皂素结构在化工应用中的有效性和功能性的最优化。皂素衍生物将使用合成生物学工具包和代谢途径在本氏烟草宿主中的表达进行改造。提取的皂苷将在应用屏幕上进行物理性质评估。将建立结构-功能规则，以迭代优化皂苷结构以实现功能性。将评估建立生物技术平台、扩大铅皂苷的规模和商业化生产的备选方案。

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.