Welcome on Heidelberg 2013's wiki!

We are a highly motivated team of 13 undergraduate students from the University of Heidelberg, all with different scientific backgrounds including Molecular Biotechnology, Biology and Systems Biology. Our team is supervised by Prof. Dr. Roland Eils and Dr. Barbara DiVentura from the University of Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and supported by eight advisors.

What we are working on:

Numerous non-ribosomal peptides such as antibiotics, chelators of metals, dyes and detoxificating enzymes are produced in an alternative ribosome-independent pathway as secondary metabolites, found in fungi and various bacteria. The chain of modules the enzyme - called non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) - consists of, subsequently adds a defined amino acid to build a template-independent peptide chain. Every module’s sequence of subdomains furthermore encodes for possible chemical modifications of the amino acid.

We will investigate modularity of the NRPS systems giving rise to the assembly of novel, engineered synthetases and subsequent synthesis of artificial non-ribosomal peptides. Currently, we are establishing the introduction of different NRPS pathways into E. coli. Our aim is to prove interchangeability of NRPS modules and domains from different host organisms. Smaller peptide synthetases, e.g. producing dyes, are used for the exchange of domains, whereas more complex synthetases, e.g. producing antibiotics, were chosen to investigate module exchangeability.

We wish to share the enormous potential of non-ribosomal peptide synthetases with the iGEM community by establishing a standard system for these synthetases, supported by an implemented software framework. Thereby, we are going to simplify manufacturing and applicability of non-ribosomal peptides in order to offer a cost- and energy-efficient alternative for the synthesis of biomolecules. As secondary metabolites, these peptides play important roles in basic research (such as dyes), pharmaceutical development (such as antibiotics) and recycling (such as chelators).