
Chassis strain engineering for efficient gas feedstock conversion
The objective of WP1 is to provide an optimized strain for the conversion of the gas feedstock by metabolic engineering, flux analysis and the engineering of transport systems. The design of molecular genetic tools and the comprehensive characterization of selected strains will be essential.
Synthetic biology to streamline the metabolism of C. necator
toward the production of rare amino acids and proteins (WP1)
1st Supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt
2nd Supervisor: Prof. Lars M. Blank
University of Groningen
Metabolic strategies for the synthesis of isotope-labeled
amino acids in C. necator (WP1)
1st Supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Lars Lauterbach
University of Groningen
Metabolic Engineering of C. necator to exploid lipid de novo
synthesis for OH-fattyacid ester production (WP1)
1st Supervisor: Prof. Lars M. Blank
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt
RWTH Aachen
Transport engineering in C. necator (WP1)
1st Supervisor: Prof. Robert Kourist
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Stéphane Guillouet
acib GmbH

Hydrogen-driven whole-cell biotransformations
This WP aims to develop an enzymatic cascade reaction that is taking place in a whole-cell conversion with recombinantly expressed enzymes. Genetic tools that have been developed in WP1 will be applied for the expression.
H2-driven production of substituted piperidines in C. necator (WP2)
1st Supervisor: Dr. Lars Lauterbach
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt
TU Berlin
Engineering of C. necator for H2-driven production
of functionalized piperazines (WP2)
1st Supervisor: Dr. Lars Lauterbach
2nd Supervisor: Prof. Stéphane Guillouet
TU Berlin
Electrophotoautotrophic production of N-heterocycles by an
enzymatic cascade in Rhodopseudomonas palustris
1st Supervisor: Prof. Ricardo Louro
2nd Supervisor: Dr. Sandy Schmidt
University of Lisbon

Process intensification of gas-driven processes
In WP3 the training network will develop a high-pressure lab-scale bioreactor for H2/CO2/O2-based reactions under consideration of the safety aspect. The engineered strains of WP1 and WP2 will be tested in this bioreactor and the physiological understanding of autotrophic fermentations will be improved.
Impacts of high pressure for efficient biomolecules production from CO2: from reactor design to microbial physiology (WP3)
1st Supervisor: Prof. Stéphane Guillouet
2nd Supervisor: Prof. Lars M. Blank
INSA Toulouse
Impact of gas delivering membrane systems on the production of biomolecules from CO2: from reactor design to microbial physiology (WP3)
1st Supervisor: Prof. Stéphane Guillouet
2nd Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Regina Kratzer
INSA Toulouse
Dynamic analysis of subpopulation distributions of engineered C. necator for biomolecules production from CO2: determination of the strain robustness under the constraints of gas fermentation (WP3)
1st Supervisor: Dr. Nathalie Gorret
2nd Supervisor: Prof. Robert Kourist
INSA Toulouse
Gas fermentation to match microbial requirements
and technological feasibilities (WP3)
1st Supervisor: Assoc. Prof. Regina Kratzer
2nd Supervisor: Prof. Stéphane Guillouet
acib GmbH