Award details

Exploiting the syntegron technology platform for assembly and optimisation of complex genetic ensembles

Reference	BBS/E/J/000CA527
Principal Investigator / Supervisor	Professor Anne Osbourn
Co-Investigators / Co-Supervisors
Institution	John Innes Centre
Department	John Innes Centre Department
Funding type	Research
Value (£)	85,959
Status	Current
Type	Institute Project
Start date	04/11/2013
End date	03/11/2016
Duration	36 months

Abstract

The proposed project fits within the EPSRC priority area of Synthetic Biology. In our previous EPSRC-NSF funded project (hereafter, Phase I), our team developed an innovative, versatile recombinase enzyme-based system for assembling and dynamically rearranging DNA modules and multigenic assemblies in a manner inspired by natural bacterial integrons. This “Syntegron” technology platform allows us to rapidly and efficientlyassemble multiple standardized DNA modules to generate large and diverse functional assemblies such as metabolic pathways, genetic circuits, or multi-domain proteins. The platform includes a novel inducible lateral gene transfer technology enabling individual cells to exchange Syntegron modules (e.g., regulatory elements, gene variants such as homologs or mutant libraries, or subassemblies such as partial metabolic pathways), in order to sample vast combinatorial diversity and enable efficient, dynamic optimisation of large, multigenic functions such as biosynthetic pathways, which are the target application for this overall project. This project will provide new scientific advances and state of the art techniques in: a) Tools for rapid strain improvement and pathway engineering. b) Synthetic engineered organisms for efficient production of high-value products. c) A novel synthetic biology toolbox of genes, regulatory elements and vectors. The project is part of a multi-disciplinary collaborative research project on the development of methodology for synthetic evolution of complex genetic ensembles in bacteria and plants that includes groups in the UK (Dr Susan Rosser, University of Edinburgh; Professor Paul Freemont, Imperial College, London; Professor Declan Bates, University of Exeter) and the US (Professor Josh Leonard, Northwestern University; Professor Jay Keasling, UC Berkeley).

Summary

unavailable

Committee	Not funded via Committee
Research Topics	Microbiology, Plant Science, Synthetic Biology, Technology and Methods Development
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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