Description of the laboratory skills (Lab'inSight Bioresources and chemistry 01/03/2012

1. 30/07/13
1
RESEARCH UNIT IN MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
FUNDP – Faculty of Science
Dr. Isabelle HOUSEN – Researcher
URBM
FIELDS OF EXPERTISE
IN BIORESOURCES ENGINEERING & CHEMISTRY
 Bacterial, yeast, fungal genome exploitaLon
• Iden-fica-on and isola-on of genes
• Produc-on of protein of interest
 Gene engineering and expression of the modified protein :
• Understanding of the structure‐func-on rela-onship
• Modifica-on of its physico‐chemical proper-es
 ModificaLon of a microorganism :
• Metal trapping for environmental purposes
• Altera-on of op-mal pH or temperature for industrial processes
2 Gembloux – March 1st 2012

2. 30/07/13
2
APPLIED RESEARCH PROJECTS
Examples of company‐oriented projects
 Modifica-ons of an hydrolase enzyme to obtain sugars with a
higher degree of polymerisa-on, more resistant to hydrolyse
 Valorisa-on of sub‐products of agriculture into prebio-cs
 Engineering of bacterial strains to capture metal ions from the
environment
3 Gembloux – March 1st 2012
SERVICES PROVIDED TO COMPANIES
Screening and characterizaLon of secreted
hydrolases
 from various organisms (yeast, fungus, bacterium, …)
 for their iden-fica-on and full characteriza-on of their coding
sequence
 for their engineering and produc-on for tailored industrial
purposes
4 Gembloux – March 1st 2012

3. 30/07/13
3
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COMPANIES
Screening various organisms for genes of interest
 CharacterizaLon and engineering of enzymes of interest
(secretome)
 Scale‐up producLon of proteins
 Development and applicaLon of methods to follow sugar
hydrolysis (chemical dosage, thin layer chromatography, …)
5 Gembloux – March 1st 2012
Agro‐food Industry
LAB CONTACT INFORMATION
Dr. Isabelle HOUSEN
Researcher
isabelle.housen@fundp.ac.be ‐ Phone : +32 81 72 44 08
Research Unit in Molecular Biology