Project

From insight to industry: investigating and exploiting the sophorolipid pathway of Starmerella bombicola

Code
01CD10524
Duration
01 November 2024 → 28 February 2025
Funding
Regional and community funding: Special Research Fund
Research disciplines
  • Natural sciences
    • Genome structure and regulation
  • Engineering and technology
    • Industrial microbiology
    • Industrial molecular engineering of nucleic acids and proteins
Keywords
Starmerella bombicola genetic engineering Biosurfactants sophorolipids industrial biotechnology
 
Project description
Biosurfactants such as sophorolipids are needed for the production of sustainable and environmentally friendly cleaning and care products, with the yeast Starmerella bombicola being the most important sophorolipid producer. In this project, the development of advanced molecular tools are combined with a more detailed study of the sophorolipid biosynthetic pathway to increase sophorolipid diversity and productivity.