Improving fungal cell factories: implementing lessons from fungal ageing models

• Applicant: Dr. Christian Q. Scheckhuber
• Subject Area: Microbial Ecology and Applied Microbiology
• Term: from 2010 to 2013
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 183748405

The project aims to upgrade the performance of fungal cell factories in a novel and innovative way that is now feasible for the first time. Emphasis will be placed on improving industrial production of beta-lactam antibiotics (penicillins) that are very important in contemporary medical treatment of various infectious diseases. The industrial producer of penicillin is the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum. Until now, the strategies aimed at the generation of enhanced production strains predominantly included classical genetic approaches. However, a major challenge in contemporary biotechnology is to implement novel innovative strategies at the cellular level related to extending lifespan and vitality. I propose to use genes/pathways involved in fungal ageing/degeneration as principal targets for genetic engineering of P. chrysogenum in an approach to keep fungal cell factories functional for longer time spans. This involves an overall systems biology approach aimed at identifying and functionally characterizing determinants of cell deterioration and ageing associated with later stages of P. chrysogenum fermentations. The work will be performed in close collaboration with the group of Prof. Dr. Ida J. van der Klei (University of Groningen) and the industrial company Koninklijke DSM (Delft), which will make their facilities available for this project. The data generated will be implemented to improve the performance of current P. chrysogenum production strains.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: Netherlands
• Host: Professorin Dr. Ida van der Klei