報告摘要：

Fluorine (F) is a key element for the synthesis of molecules broadly used in medicine, agriculture and material applications. ‘Decorating’ organic structures with F atoms onto is a unique strategy for tuning molecular properties—yet organofluorines are rarely found in Nature, and approaches to integrate fluorometabolites into the core biochemistry of living cells are scarce. In this talk, he will also discuss how synthetic metabolism can be implemented to expand the chemical landscape of bacteria, thus providing alternative biosynthetic strategies for fluorinated building-blocks. To this end, fluoride-responsive riboswitches, orthogonal RNA polymerases and novel fluorinating enzymes mined from extreme environments were combined to drive in vivo biofluorination reactions. Prospects for bioproduction of fluorinated building blocks and materials will be likewise discussed at the light of ‘F-addiction’ strategies.

報告人簡介：

Pablo I. Nikel earned a Ph.D. in Biotechnology and Molecular Biology in Buenos Aires, Argentina. During graduate school, his research focused on repurposing two-component signal transduction systems in engineered Escherichia coli to produce biopolymers and biofuels. During his post-doctoral training, he came across the fascinating world of Pseudomonas putida. He is now leading the Systems Environmental Microbiology Group at DTU Biosustain, and he is Full Professor of the Technical University of Denmark. Pablo’s team aims at rewriting P. putida’s core biochemistry through synthetic metabolism for biosynthesis of novel compounds with a focus on new-to-nature fine chemicals. He received the Ascending Investigator and Pioneer Innovator awards from the Novo Nordisk Foundation. He is Editor-in-Chief of Current Opinion in Biotechnology and a cofounder of BioHalo, a spin-out company from his laboratory pursuing biological production of fluorochemicals.