Aldolases recombinants:desenvolupament de biocatalizadors i síntesi estereoselectiva d'intermedis d'alt valor afegit

The project is focused on the microbial production of aldolases and their use in the selective synthesis of polyol and aminopolyol chiral intermediates for the preparation of high added value products. This project is a continuation of the former project BIO1999-1219-CO2 and carried out by two research teams, one at the Department of Chemical Engineering of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the other one at the Institute of Chemical and Environmental Research of Barcelona (CSIC). The four DHAP dependent aldolases and the 2-deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA) will be overexpressed in E.coli and obtained in high cell density cultures. The purified enzymes will be employed for the stereoselective synthesis of intermediates that will lead to aldonic acids (khafrefungine analogs) and phytoceramide related compounds after the subsequent functional modifications. Reaction medium engineering, immobilization and stabilization of aldolases, and the design and development of enzymatic reactors, will also be investigated. The main expected benefits are the availability of useful biocatalysts for the selective formation of carbon-carbon bonds and the development of chemical-enzymatic methodology for the synthesis of molecules of interest for biological sciences.