High-throughput CAZyme production in Aspergillus oryzae

To support the transition to a green economy, novel industrial enzymes are necessary. Enzymes of particular interest in this context are Carbohydrate-Active EnZymes (CAZymes). Novel CAZymes targeting specific substrates are in great demand, and genome sequences show that there is a vast repertoire of uncharacterized CAZyme genes, which may deliver the desired activities. There have been substantial efforts aiming at identifying novel CAZymes via heterologous production in bacterial hosts. However, the success rate of such approaches with eukaryotic enzymes, including fungal targets, has been extremely low.

We hypothesize that fungal cell factories are better suited for eukaryotic enzymes, due to a dedicated secretory pathway that offers folding control and post translational modifications. So far, this strategy has been impaired by lack of specific tools for high-throughput strain engineering. The goal of this project is to establish an automated setup that allows heterologous expression and characterization of new CAZyme genes in high throughput manner, with a vision to cover unexplored territory in the eukaryotic CAZyme map for novel enzyme discovery.