(Photo)Biotechnology for sustainable production via in vivo redox and multistep biocatalysis

Title: (Photo)Biotechnology for sustainable production via in vivo redox and multistep biocatalysis

Speaker: Prof Bruno Bühler (Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany)

Abstract: Oxygenase-catalysed oxyfunctionalisations and multistep reaction cascades are chemically demanding, and living microbial cells are well suited to run them: they regenerate cofactors, renew their own catalyst, handle reactive oxygen species, and confine high reactant concentrations within the cell. The price is complexity — performance depends as much on gene expression, energy metabolism, and toxification as on mass transfer and kinetics. This presentation covers concepts and examples of whole-cell redox and multistep biocatalysis in engineered Pseudomonas and E. coli, including cascades to lactones, ω-hydroxy acids, ω-amino acids, and dioic acids as monomers for polyesters and polyamides. It further shows how cyanobacteria make water and light a driver of oxygenase chemistry, supplying both electrons and O₂ for light-driven biocatalysis.

Bio: Bruno Bühler studied biology and biotechnology at ETH Zurich, completing his PhD in 2003 with the ETH medal for an outstanding thesis. After a postdoc at ETH he joined TU Dortmund University as a group leader, habilitating there in 2014. Since 2015 he has been Professor of Applied Biocatalysis in a joint appointment between the UFZ Leipzig and Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, where he heads the Applied Biocatalysis Group. He co-speaks the UFZ integration platform Tapping Nature’s Potential and is Scientific Vice President of the European Society of Biochemical Engineering Sciences (ESBES).