INTERVIEW WITH ZORAN NIKOLOSKI – UNIVERSITY OF POSTDAM

“The University of Potsdam is responsible for developing and deploying computational approaches for the generation/prediction of metabolic engineering strategies to increase the production/yield of precursors to jet fuel.”

Zoran Nikoloski, speaks in this interview about the role of the University of Postdam in the ALFAFUELS project as well as their challenges.

Q: What is the role of the University of Potsdam within the ALFAFUELS project?

A: Within ALFAFUELS, the University of Potsdam is responsible for developing and deploying computational approaches for the generation/prediction of metabolic engineering strategies to increase the production/yield of precursors to jet fuel. This is achieved by using metabolic models of the cyanobacteria species Synechocystis on which the production of isoprene, as a precursor to jet fuel, is based. In addition, we will deploy these approaches to engineer pathways in the model green algae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to utilize the debris from cyanobacteria for production of starch in a zero-waste setting. The novelty brought by the team at the University of Potsdam is that the designed engineering strategies will allow the prediction of regulators whose manipulation will facilitate more facile experimental testing of the in silico-generated strategies.

Q: What are the challenges and how do you plan to overcome them?

A: The computational predictions may not match physiological constraints in the model organisms with which we work. These can be improved by integrating data from prior and ongoing experiments from our colleagues with whom we collaborate in the context of work package 1.