BFACTORY Projects

Principal Investigator

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Team Members - CEB

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Fellowship Members - CEB

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Abstract

Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) are among the most promising prebiotics in the market. Produced from sucrose using fructosyltransferase enzymes, the process exhibits low purity and conversion yields due to large amounts of glucose released during FOS production. This leads to the presence of non-prebiotic sugars in the final product. A faster and sustainable process is herein proposed by using the whole cells of a FOS producer, which also remove other sugars, resulting in high fermentation yields and purer FOS. Zymomonas mobilis is an excellent host as it contains native enzymes able to convert glucose and fructose into other sub-products, besides being unable to hydrolyze FOS. Expressing FTases from other sources in this chassis is expected to increase the FOS yield and quality. This novel FOS producer will be engineered using synthetic biology strategies. Bioprocess optimization, scale-up and sustainability (use of non-conventional substrates) will be pursed.