Industrial Microbiology (IMB)

Welcome to the homepage of the Industrial Microbiology section.

The Industrial Microbiology group aims to unravel the catalytic and regulatory networks in industrial micro-organisms. The underlying, application-oriented objectives are (i) the rational, knowledge-based optimization of existing industrial processes and (ii) the development of new industrial applications of industrial micro-organisms.

Special attention is paid to metabolic engineering of the production of low-molecular-weight metabolites from carbohydrate feedstocks. The most intensively studied organisms in this group are Saccharomyces cerevisiae and other yeasts and filamentous fungi.

The basis for the research in the Industrial Microbiology group is a state-of-the-art facility for cultivation of micro-organisms under carefully defined conditions (including 30 computer-controlled set-ups for chemostat cultivation). The research encompasses a quantitative analysis of metabolic fluxes and metabolic regulation in genetically engineered micro-organisms, including the corresponding wild-type strains as references. A broad range of techniques is applied for quantitative physiological analysis of the steady-state and transient-state chemostat cultures. These include analysis of intracellular and extracellular metabolites, isolation and functional analysis of organelles, DNA-microarray analysis (the group harbours an Affymetrix DNA array set-up) and protein/enzyme activity assays.

The group collaborates intensively with the Bioprocess Technology section and is strongly involved in the research of the Delft Centre for Life Science and Technology (programme 2) and the Kluyver Centre for Genomics of Industrial Fermentation (programme 1) , and in the research and education of the Graduate Research School BSDL (sector 2).