Johan Larsbrink, Professor of Molecular Enzymology

Online

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  Password: 309284

Abstract

All biomass created in nature is eventually decomposed, and microorganisms are the main drivers of this process. The main tools they use are various enzymes, which differ in sequence, structure, and activity, and these can also be utilized for various industrial purposes. Even though certain aspects of microbial and enzymatic biomass deconstruction are by now quite well understood, knowledge regarding other areas remains virtually a black box. In this lecture, I will present how we in my research group use enzyme-discovery approaches to fill some of these knowledge gaps, with a major focus on biochemical and structural characterization. The discovery efforts go from genomics, where we can mine novel enzymes from known but poorly studied families, to proteomics, where we identify which enzymes or other proteins are actually present during the active deconstruction of a complex substrate, or even to find new microbial species based on their abilities to consume complex biomass. I will describe how we have gained new knowledge regarding the microbial degradation of plant biomass, but also how the same enzyme discovery approach can be utilized for health-related research.

Agenda

13:00-13:05    Introduction: Carl Johan Franzén, Professor and Head of Division Industrial Biotechnology, Life Sciences
13:05-14:00    Lecture and questions: Johan Larsbrink, Life Sciences
14:00-14:30    Coffee Mingle IndBio's kitchen, floor 3/6