Biobased lignan synthesis platform
This research project focused on the development of a modular platform for the efficient biobased and customized synthesis of lignans.
Lignans are natural products of many plants derived from the shikimic acid biosynthetic pathway. Lignans can be used as lead compounds for new drugs and as dietary supplements. Isolation from plants (some of which are threatened with extinction) is inefficient, and chemical synthesis is complex. The goal of LignaSyn is to enable stable, efficient, and sustainable production of lignans from renewable feedstocks by introducing novel recombinant multienzyme cascades into microbial GRAS strains.