The goal of the IronPlugNPlay Consortium is to identify and design protein cofactors that will enable the reliable use of iron-sulfur cluster proteins in engineered microbes. As iron-sulfur cluster proteins catalyze unique reactions required for many useful biosynthetic pathways, our tools will help open the door to all of Nature’s chemical versatility.

Background

The convergence of genome sequencing, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology has vastly expanded the number of compounds that can be produced via microbial fermentation. Engineered biosynthetic pathways are exploited to produce valuable and useful chemicals. However, pathway engineering often stumbles upon a fundamental biochemical obstacle: many pathways rely upon enzymes that are incompatible with species used for industrial-scale fermentation. This problem is severe for iron-sulfur (FeS) enzymes, whose catalytic activities are essential for the biosynthesis of a huge variety of natural products.

Who we are and what we do

IronPlugNPlay is a consortium of synthetic biologists (G. Bokinsky), directed evolution specialists (M. Alcalde), and experts in FeS enzyme biochemistry and genetics (F. Barras, S. Ollagnier-de Choudens). Working with our SME partner (G. Lentzen, Isobionics), we will develop in vivo approaches for activating FeS enzymes from proof-of-concept to deployment in a microbial fermentation process.

The IRONPLUGNPLAY Consortium is funded via CoBioTech (an ERA-Net Cofund Action under H2020). We are also supported by the Community Science Program (Synthetic Biology) of the Joint Genome Institute, part of the US Department of Energy.