The Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory is devoted to research and education on new bioprocesses that have applications in biorefining, biofuels, and human health. Work done in the laboratory utilizes traditional and proprietary tools to engineer more efficient fermentation of biomass to biofuels, production of valuable chemicals, and to discover how new antibiotics affect bacteria such as E. coli and P. aeruginosa.  The laboratory also develops novel genome-wide biotechnology for use in future applications.

The following projects use genomics to engineer selections for strain development:

Improving Understanding of 3-HP Acid Tolerance of E. Coli ― The engineering of complex phenotypes, characterized by sensitivity to multiple genetic and environmental factors, is essential to the development of optimal biofuels and biorefining processes.  This project demonstrates a rapid and efficient approach for decomposing and then re-engineering a complex and previously uncharacterized phenotype—an approach we anticipate can be generalized. (Tanya Warnecke)

Multiplex Recombineering ― Microbes are useful as biocatalysts for the production of commodity chemicals or fuels, but industrial conditions can stress these organisms resulting in reduced production. Engineering stress tolerance in these strains may be difficult because multiple changes in gene expression are required. Multiplex recombineering is a potential new way to generate a library of mutants with multigenic changes in expression. (Joe Warner)

Engineering Furfural Tolerance ― Furfural is a microbial inhibitor formed during the pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass.  This project aims to use two genome-wide tools that were developed in the lab―Scalar Analysis of Library Enrichments and disruptional mutagenesis―to determine the toxic effects of furfural to E. coli. (Tirzah Mills)