Internship in Metabolic Engineering – Institute of Julich

This internship project focuses on developing optimized DNA sequences, known as signal peptides, to enhance the secretion of proteins produced by bacteria. Signal peptides are critical for secreting proteins out of the bacterial cell, facilitating their purification and downstream processing. Under the guidance of Dr. Susana Matamouros and Professor Michael Bott, a leading expert in microbial strain development, this project will integrate advanced techniques to identify, design and test signal peptides that improve secretion efficiency of selected target proteins, such as enzymes for plastics degradation. This work has the potential to contribute significantly to the development of innovative microbial production systems for industrially relevant biomolecules.
Potential objectives for the internship: 1) Identification of optimal signal peptides: test a library of signal peptides for their efficiency in enabling secretion of selected target proteins, such as cutinases or PETases in Corynebacterium glutamicum, a major microbial cell factory used in industry. 2) Use of the robotics platform of the institute for high-throughput strain development and for analyzing the recombinant strains for their efficiency in target protein secretion. 3) Develop approaches to improve the secretion capabilities of C. glutamicum by genomic mutations.

Faculty Supervisor:

Isabel Desgagné-Penix

Student:

Partner:

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Discipline:

Life Sciences

Sector:

Biotechnology; Life Sciences (not health); Environmental Science and Technology

University:

Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

Program: