Creating a toolbox for the enzymatic modification of alginates
Alginate currently is the most abundant polysaccharide in use by the medical industry and the number of potential applications is still skyrocketing. Structurally, alginate is composed of only two different monosaccharides, but their ratio and distribution in the polysaccharide greatly influences its biological and physicochemical properties. Still to date, the production of alginates with defined structural properties is prohibitively difficult, which prevents many promising applications from hitting the market.
In a currently running project, we aim to produce alginates with defined properties by microbial fermentation and subsequent enzymatic modification. The advertised master thesis will support our efforts to produce and apply enzymes on the previously produced alginates to tailor their structural composition and properties.
Responsibilities:
1. Recombinant production and purification of several enzymes active on alginate.
2. Application of enzymes in vitro on produced alginates.
3. Analysis of new polysaccharides' structural and physicochemical properties using various analytical methods.
4. Investigation of the ability of new polysaccharides to form 3D networks, depending on thesis progress.
You are welcome to apply if you are motivated for scientific work and curious to learn lots of new things in an interdisciplinary research group.
Start: ASAP
Duration: 6 months
Salary: ~420€ /month net
Location: IFA Tulln, Institute of Environmental Biotechnology
Contact: gregor.tegl@boku.ac.at
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