Junior Research Group "KoSyn"
The group investigates the applicability of consortia consisting of bacterial and yeast cells for their usage in (bio) technological processes. The simultaneous exploitation of yeast and bacteria offers the advantage to benefit from the metabolic performances of both organisms, providing thereby new opportunities for the biotechnological production of complex metabolites.
Within the project, the utilized yeast and bacterial cells will be genetically modified, so that both organisms can communicate and respond to each other by the secretion and perception of defined signal molecules. To demonstrate the functionality of this system, the established consortium will be engineered in order to detect and degrade an antibiotic from aqueous samples, as a proof of principle. Thereby, the bacterial cells will act as sensor-cells, detecting the presence of the antibiotic. The information will be passed in a controlled manner to the yeast actor-cells, leading to the production and secretion of the respective degradative enzymes.
The interdisciplinary junior research group "KoSyn" was formed in January 2020 and is funded by the European Social Fund (ESF). The project is an association of different work groups of the Technical University Dresden, including the ‘General Microbiology‘ (Prof. T. Mascher, Dr. D. Wolf), ‘Hydrochemistry and Water Technology’ (Prof. S. Stolte, Dr. H. Börnick), ‘Bioprocess Engineering’ (Prof. T. Walther, Dr. C. Löser) and ‘Biological Sensor-Actorsystems’ (Dr. K. Ostermann, Dr. J. Korp).
