Prof Mark Ashe, Prof Chris Grant
Applications accepted all year round
Self-Funded PhD Students Only
About the Project
The introduction of whole biochemical pathways into micro-organisms for the production of useful products such as biofuels is now a major focus of the biotechnology industry. In particular, processes that make use of waste material by converting it into useful products have received great attention: for example, the use of lignocellulosic waste for the production of bioethanol by yeast. The yeast S. cerevisiae is a workhorse of this industry, as well as a key model system in the study of molecular and cellular biology. This yeast does not naturally metabolise the 5 carbon sugar xylose; it requires the addition of several exogenous genes to achieve this. Pentose sugars such as xylose are key breakdown products of lignocellulose; therefore, there is great interest in forcing yeast to metabolise these sugars in order to improve yields of bioethanol from lignocellulose. In this project, we aim to invetsigate whether co-ordinated localisation of the mRNAs for the various added genes leads to improved expression and ultimately higher bioethanol yields. In the first part, the project will start by characterising regulatory elements that govern mRNA localisation within yeast cells. Then using this knowledge strains will be designed and constructed bearing the xylose metabolic pathway with and without these control elements to evaluate the impact on pathway flux.
Funding Notes
To apply for this PhD project please see:
www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/phdprogrammes/howtoapply
Also see our International Brochure www.ls.manchester.ac.uk/phdprogrammes/internationalbiosciences
References
Castelli LM, Lui J, Campbell SG, Rowe W, Zeef LA, Holmes LE, Hoyle NP, Bone J, Selley JN, Sims PF, Ashe MP. 2011. Glucose depletion inhibits translation initiation via eIF4A loss and subsequent 48S preinitiation complex accumulation, while the pentose phosphate pathway is coordinately up-regulated. Mol Biol Cell. 22: 3379-93
Lui J, Campbell SG, Ashe MP. 2010. Inhibition of translation initiation following glucose depletion in yeast facilitates a rationalization of mRNA content. Biochem Soc Trans. 38:1131.
Hoyle NP, Castelli LM, Campbell SG, Holmes LE, Ashe MP. 2007. Stress-dependent relocalization of translationally primed mRNPs to cytoplasmic granules that are kinetically and spatially distinct from P-bodies. J Cell Biol. 179: 65.