The focus of research of the X-Zyme GmbH (Düsseldorf) and
the BiocatCollection (Hamburg) is in the field of enzyme technology. Now both
partners concluded a close agreement, to jointly expand the industrial
application of microbial biocatalysts.
Nowadays enzymes are already applied on a large scale in
industrial processes. These enzymes catalyze certain reactions and normally
convert only a specific range of compounds. The aim of the cooperation is to
expand this spectrum. The partners will directedly search for novel enzymes,
isolate, characterize and if necessary modify them to make them applicable for
industrial large scale application fields.
At the same time X-Zyme and the BiocatCollection will
jointly merchandise selected enzyme classes, thereby sustaining their
respective enzyme portfolio.
The enzyme technologists from Düsseldorf's X-Zyme GmbH have
specialized on the development and production of biocatalysts. The company has
a comprehensive spectrum of oxidoreductases, especially alcohol dehydrogenases for the production of
highly pure, chiral compounds. By directed mutagenesis it is possible to adapt
enzymes to a diverse spectrum of substrates. A patented screening-system, where
so-called Colour-Tag-ProteinsTM are linked to the produced enzymes,
enables on the one hand a faster detection of improved enzymes and on the other
hand a better solubility in the producing strains and therefore a higher yield.
Within the last years, many large gene libraries with a broad spectrum of
enzymes could be produced by this technique. The broad portfolio of many
expression vectors and strains enables the production of desired enzymes with
the most suitable microorganism.
The BiocatCollection is a DBU (German Environmental
Foundation) founded project within the holding company TuTech Innovation GmbH.
It is located at the Institute of Technical Microbiology at the Technical
University Hamburg-Harburg under the direction of Professor Garabed
Antranikian. The enzyme library of the BiocatCollection comprises approximately
300 enzymes, which were provided by partners from academia and industry. The
focus is on hydrolases, e.g. esterases, lipases, cellulases and other
polymer-degrading enzymes. A unique characteristic is the multitude of enzymes
from extremophilic microorganisms which are active at the limits of life, such
as temperatures from 0°C to 100°C, at pH 2 or 12, at extremely high salt
concentrations or in organic solvents. The BiocatCollection has the
capabilities for high-throughput screening for novel enzymes and their
production up to a scale of 300 litres.
