Award details

Dissection and reassembly of the naturally occurring fatty acid synthases (FAS) and polyketide synthases (PKS)

Reference	BBS/E/J/00001205
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Sir David Hopwood
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	3,578
Status	Completed
Type	Institute Project
Start date	01/04/1997
End date	30/04/1998
Duration	13 months

Abstract

Acyl coenzyme A derivatives supply the building blocks for the extension of carbon chains destined to become fatty acids or polyketides such as certain antibiotics and spore pigments. The early steps in forming such molecules are enzymatically very similar to each other and our previous work has established the potential value of switching of enzymes between pathways as a means of changing the end product. The construction of such mixed pathways, which is achieved by genetic engineering, has tremendous potential for generating chemical diversity. In this project we shall extend the scope of earlier work on designer antibiotics by using gene sets from taxonomically diverse bacteria, fungi, and vertebrates to construct hybrid gene sets in Streptomyces and E. coli. The nature of any new chemical products from organisms harbouring these hybrid genes will be characterised biologically, chemically and biochemically. Over-produced hybrid enzymes will be isolated for in vitro studies. The rules, constraints and opportunities for using genetic engineering of PKS/FAS genes to produce novel chemicals will be clarified.

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Closed Committee - Plant & Microbial Sciences (PMS)
Research Topics	X – not assigned to a current Research Topic
Research Priority	X – Research Priority information not available
Research Initiative	X - not in an Initiative
Funding Scheme	X – not Funded via a specific Funding Scheme

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