Biotechnology/Systems biology

Consumers are increasingly paying attention to natural ingredients in food and beverages. This trend is prompting manufacturers to use more nature-based recipes. The Zwingenberg-based biotechnology company BRAIN Biotech has now agreed to collaborate with Corbion, a Dutch company specialising in natural ingredients. The aim of the collaboration is to advance the development of novel bio-based antimicrobial compounds and their derivatives for use in the food industry.

For years, researchers have been working on using bacteria to convert the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide into a raw material for the chemical industry. As part of the Unifying Systems in Catalysis (UniSysCat) Cluster of Excellence, researchers in Berlin have now succeeded in elucidating the molecular mechanism by which bacteria efficiently convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into carbon monoxide (CO) for the first time. According to Christian Lorent's team at TU Berlin, this represents a breakthrough in catalysis research.

Dyes made from CO₂ and sunlight, fuels made from pizza scraps, or bioplastics made from bread scraps: The Waste2Value joint project relies on bacteria and microalgae to convert waste materials from agriculture, food production, and industry into valuable chemicals and materials and to promote structural change in the Western Palatinate region. On August 12, Minister President Alexander Schweizer was briefed on the research results at the Pirmasens campus of the University of Kaiserslautern.

Microorganisms are the invisible helpers in agriculture. They supply soil and plants with important nutrients, improve soil structure and can keep pathogens at bay. Soil microbes thus make an enormous contribution to preserving the ecosystem. An international research team led by Geisenheim University shows why this microbe-plant interaction is so important and how it can be saved.

Whether it's schnitzel, steak or bratwurst: many meat products are sold in plastic film or containers so that they survive transport undamaged and have a longer shelf life. But how can food waste and environmental pollution caused by plastic waste be reduced? In the EU project MATE4MEAT, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Process Engineering and Packaging IVV are working with partners from five countries to set new standards for food packaging.

Anaerobic microorganisms are among the oldest living organisms on earth. As oxygen is life-threatening for them, they have developed special metabolic pathways that enable them to survive in oxygen-free regions such as the human gut or volcanic swamps. The ability to bind carbon is also particularly efficient in anaerobic microorganisms. The enzyme complex carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) plays an important role here.

Whether heat stress or a cold snap: plants often react very sensitively to rapid changes in the weather, resulting in crop losses in agriculture. In order to master the challenges of climate change, it is important to know the mechanisms that take place in plant cells. Researchers at the University of Vienna and the Dresden University of Applied Sciences (HTWD) are now providing insights that could be groundbreaking for the breeding of climate-resistant crops.

Pseudomonas syringae is a bacterium that causes various plant diseases and damages agriculture by infecting crops. Like other microorganisms, the bacterium is also able to produce a variety of biologically active natural substances.

Anaerobic bacteria are among the oldest life forms on earth. Compared to other organisms, they can survive in places where there is no oxygen. These adaptive artists are therefore of great interest to researchers. With Clostridium thermocellum, researchers from the Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute (Leibniz-HKI) and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena have scrutinised an anaerobic bacterium that is of crucial importance for the degradation of cellulose in plant cell walls.