Resolving bottlenecks in natural product biomanufacturing (ARC Linkage Project administered by QUT) (2025-2027)
Abstract
Biochemicals that cannot be produced through synthetic chemistry are often amenable to biotechnological production, but industrialisation is hindered by inefficient enzymes at key steps. This synthetic biology project aims to address this important problem by combining ancestral protein reconstruction, machine learning for prediction of enzyme function, and multiplexed in vitro metabolic pathway prototyping. The power of this approach will be demonstrated by enhancing cytochrome P450 enzymes and prenyltransferases for biosynthesis of alkaloids and flavones. We expect that the project outcomes will reduce research and development costs associated with biotechnological manufacturing of high-value natural product biochemicals.
