Autumn 2018 Cebitec – Quarterly
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CeBiTec – Quarterly Autumn 2018 In this Issue . 20th anniversary of the Center for Biotechnology . 7th CeBiTec Students Academy . PhD students presented their wor at the CeBiTec !etreat . Contemporary Arts meets Contemporary Science" #anopore Se$uencing at %arta . Development of a fermentative process for #&methyl&'&alanine( a )uilding )loc in peptide drugs . *vercoming limitations in nuclear engineering of a green alga to develop +reen&Cell Bio-,actories . +enome -nformatics +roup welcomes +uest !esearchers from Brazil . Bicomer and #adja 0en e awarded funding from 1!D, and prize in regional )usiness competition . CeBiTec Summer Party 2023 . 4pcoming 1vents 20th anniversary of the Center for Biotechnology *n Septem)er 25( the CeBiTec cele)rated its 20th anniversary with a ceremonial event at the Center for -nterdisciplinary !esearch 67i,8 at Bielefeld 4niversity9 The CeBiTec was founded in Septem)er 2::3 at Bielefeld 4niversity with the aim to )undle activities in the areas of )iotechnology and )ioinformatics within one central academic institution9 The event was opened )y the Scienti;c Dir & ector of the CeBiTec( Prof9 Dr9 *laf <ruse( followed )y welcome addresses given )y the Rektor of Bielefeld 4niversity( Prof9 Dr9 +erhard Sagerer and )y the spea er of the Scienti;c Advisory Board of the CeBiTec( Dr9 !olf Apweiler from the 1%B'&1B- in Cam)ridge9 Prof9 Dr9 Alfred P=hler( one of the founding mem)ers of the CeBiTec( reviewed the development of the institution within the last 20 years9 The event continued with a tal )y Prof9 Dr9 <arl&Erich >aeger from Forschungszentrum Jülich on industrial )iotechnology in +ermany and a tal a)out European aspects of )iotechnology given )y Prof9 Dr9 Alison Smith from the 4niversity of Cam)ridge9 The program was lived up )y the presentation of parts of the musical ?Das %ole =l@ )y mem)ers of the ensem)le of the Theater Bielefeld9 ?Das %ole =l@ tells the story of the discovery of the structure of D#A in the 2:A0 th and the race competition for the determination of the human genome se$uence at the end of the cen & tury9 Billiam Bard %urat played the piano( >Cn Philipp von 'inden performed as ConfDrencier and Thomas <lot. acted on stage9 ?This was a wonderful event( perfectly reEecting the success story of the CeBiTec over the last 20 years( *laf <ruse summari.ed at the end9 www.cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de 2 F G CeBiTec H Iuarterly F Autumn 2023 7th CeBiTec tudents Acade"y -n the last wee of the summer holidays (August 20 to 25( 20238( 20 young students from Ostwestfalen-Li e 6a region of #orth !hine&Bestphalia8 visited the 7th CeBiTec Students Academy9 This academy is a /oint pro/ect of the CeBiTec( the district government of Detmold and the foundation Osthushenrich-!tiftung" This year it was organized )y the students la)oratory teutola#&)iotechnologie9 The academy aimed at imparting scienti;c content and research methods in genome research and )ioinformatics to particularly talen& ted high school students9 A diverse range of lectures gave the participants the opportunity to networ at various levels of university life9 They got in touch with students from the i+1% Bielefeld&CeBiTec team( PhD students( and representatives of diJerent student advisory services as well as university professors of various research ;elds9 This yearKs Students Academy opened the third funding period of the Osthushenrich-!tiftung" As reported in the previous newsletter( this and the following academies are eLtended )y two additional Saturdays and a Citizen Science eLperiment9 The introduction to Citizen Science was given )y Dr9 Anett !ichter( who presented a general overview of this research ;eld9 As )eing part of the Citizen&Science&Pro/ect $ür%Er scha'en ()!!en * (issen scha't $ürger+ which is founded )y the ,ederal %inistry of Education and !esearch 6B%B,8 she provided insight into ongoing Citizen Science research in +ermany and )eyond9 -n the practical courses( the students were given the opportunity to conduct la)oratory eLperiments on molecular( genetical( and microbiological analysis of s in )acteria as well as on the transformation of )acteria with plasmids9 The students analysed their own s in )acteria( which were first cultivated on solid medium9 Su)se$ue ntly( the )acterial D#A was isolated and su)/ected to nanopore se$uencing9 *n the following two Saturdays( the students were trained in )ioinformatics in regards to the analysis of genome se$uences9 Among other things( the data obtained through D#A se$uencing were evaluated under the guidance of eLperts from the CeBiTec )ioinformatics group9 The 3th CeBiTec Students Academy will ta e place during the last wee of the summer holidays 202: (August 2: to 2M( 202:8 and the two following Saturdays 6August M2 and Septem)er 7( 202:89 #h$ students %resented their work at the CeBiTec 'etreat A)out G0 mem)ers of the CeBiTec participated at the Ath CeBiTec !etreat on Septem)er 20 and 22( 20239 During the two&day meeting 23 PhD students presented their results and progress followed )y fruitful discussions9 A get&together on %onday night with cold drin s and salty snac s was the pleasant environment for networ ing9 The retreat again too place in 0aus Düsse( the seat of the Landwirtschaftskammer -R( 6Cham)er of Agriculture of #orth !hine&Bestphalia89 This year in a guided tour the CeBiTec scientists learned a lot a)out modern animal hus)andry9 #eLt yearNs retreat will proba)ly ta e place at the same location9 M F G CeBiTec H Iuarterly F Autumn 2023 Conte"%orary Arts "eets Conte"%orary cience( )ano%ore e*uencing at +arta ,or many years now( the %arta 0erford has provided visitors with an alternative view on various ;elds through the thoughtful assem)led eLhi)itions9 *n Septem)er 2G( the eLhi)ition “Creatures made to measure H Animals and Con & temporary Design@ was opened9 -n addition to the innovative wor s of numerous artists H from animal&inspired robots to coiJed guinea pigs H visitors could also ta e a scienti;c view on animals9 %em)ers of the CeBiTec conducted engaging wor shops for the pu)lic9 !epresentatives of the CeBiTec were the teutola#&)iotechnologie( the i+1% team Bielefeld&CeBiTec 2023( the high school i+1% team !hedaOBielefeld 2023 and the se$uencing team %ar us 0aa and Dr9 Christian !=c ert9 The eLperiments included the eLtraction of D#A from fruits( the determination of the composition of meat )y D#A mar ers and H as a highlight H live se$uencing of D#A of minced meat using the %in-*# nanopore se$uencer9 The aim of the eLperiments was to provide visitors with a diJerent perspective on the use of animals in todayKs world( in eeping with the eLhi)ition9 The opportunity to see through a demonstration what is contained in the meat we consume and how science wor s has inspired many visitors and even museum employees9 The eLtraction of D#A from fruits using simple home remedies was supposed to show those interested how easy it is to apply science9 The numerous $uestions visitors had a)out the eLperiments and genetic engineering were answered with pleasure and could hopefully spar the interest in science even further9 https"PPmarta&herford9deP https"PPmarta&)log9dePder&dna&auf&der&spur&ce)itec&der&uni&)ielefeld&im&martaP $evelo%"ent of a fermentative %rocess for N-"ethyl-,-alanine- a building bloc& in %e%tide drugs The group of Prof9 Dr9 Vol er Bendisch 6CeBiTec and ,aculty of Biology8 has developed a fermentative approach to access #&methylated amino acids9 -&methylated amino acids can serve as )uilding )loc s for peptide&)ased drugs since they show higher )iological activity in .i.o compared to the native peptide9 /or0ne#acterium glutamicum was chosen as model organism for several reasons" its is a natural amino acid producer and already used for decades for the industrial production of the food and feed additives '&glutamate and '&lysine9 Additionally( the group of Prof9 Dr9 Bernhard Ei manns( 4niversity of 4lm( provided a pyruvate overproducing strain9 0eterologous eLpression of , kA from 1seudomonas utida in that strain ena)led fermentative production of the -&methylated amino acid -& methylalanine9 A fed&)atch )ioreactor cultivation led to high production titers of M2 g ' &2 -&methylalanine9 The strategy could )e transferred to sustaina)le production of -&methylalanine from second generation feedstoc s such as Lylose and ara)inose9 The research group of Prof9 Dr9 #or)ert Sewald and CeBiTecNs technology platform fermentation with Dr9 >oe !isse contri)uted to this colla)or& ation9 %elanie %indt( the first author of the study( was awarded a poster prize at the -nter& national Biotechnology ,orum 2023 in %unich9 %indt( %9( !isse( >9%9( +ruR( 09( Sewald( #9( 1ikmanns( B9>9( Bendisch( Q9,9( 20239 Sci9 !ep9 39 https"PPdoi9orgP20920M3Ps52A:3&023&M2M0:&A9 5 F G CeBiTec H Iuarterly F Autumn 2023 .verco"ing li"itations in nuclear engineering of a green alga to develo% /reen-Cell Bio-0actories -n >une( the synthetic )iology team of the Algae Biotechnology and Bioenergy +roup of Prof9 Dr9 *laf <ruse 6CeBiTec Sci & enti;c Director8 pu)lished a )rea through article on the engineering of the model green microalga /hlam0domonas reinhardtii in the /ournal #ucleic Acids !esearch S2T9 Engineering the nuclear genomes of eu aryotic green microalgae is inherently diUcult( as these organisms often have special genetic features including high +C contents and intron dens & ities9 The )rea through of the Algae Biotechnology +roup was to design nuclear transgene eLpression constructs con & taining repetitive copies of a native /" reinhar,tii intron which mimic ed host genomic architecture9