Team
Group Leader
PhD Students
Daniel Ahlheit, MSc
My project investigates on energy metabolism during growth on C1 substates, mainly methanol, in Komagataella phaffii and aims to expand the current knowledge on methylotrophy in this yeast by synthetic biology. It studies growth, subcellular localizations and ATP homeostasis to pinpoint unique characteristics. The main vehicles are overexpression- and CIRSPR/Cas9-Knockout- and SWAP studies. Based on previous findings on the TCA cycle, this project aims to arch over peroxisomes, mitochondria and the cytosol.
email: daniel.ahlheit(at)boku.ac.at
phone: +43 1 47654-79038, 79142
Xavier Farge, MSc
Function Control and Engineering of Microbial Methylotrophy, FUNCEMM
Methylotrophy in yeast is a known pathway secluded in the peroxisome. It is however not known how this physical separation benefits the cells. Understanding such phenomenon could be key to further engineer synthetic recombinant methylotrophs; thus supporting the establishment of a C1-based bio economy.
phone: +43 1 47654-79138
email: xavier.farge(at)boku.ac.at
Miriam Kuzman, MSc.
Grafting the Ribulose Monophosphate Cycle for Methanol Assimilation into Komagataella phaffii.
Methanol assimilation has evolved independently in bacteria and yeasts, with key pathways involving formaldehyde assimilation via pentose phosphate or tetrahydrofolate cycles. In Komagataella phaffii, the native xylulose monophosphate (XuMP) cycle assimilates formaldehyde through dihydroxyacetone synthase (DAS), confined to peroxisomes. This project aims to convert the XuMP cycle into the bacterial ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) cycle by deleting DAS genes and overexpressing heterologous HPS and PHI genes. Adaptive laboratory evolution will be applied to achieve methanol growth, followed by fine-tuning to optimize energy efficiency. Using ¹³C tracer analysis and non-stationary flux analysis, methanol assimilation and metabolic flux distributions will be characterized.
phone: +43 1 47654 79036, 79042
email: miriam.kuzman(at)boku.ac.at
Technicians
