Plants as source of novel biocatalysts: exploring Arabidopsis AA3 family enzymes for targeted oxidations of carbohydrates and alcohols

Plant genomes are underutilized reservoirs of enzymes for the biosynthesis of high-value products from renewable raw materials. The ARADOX project will focus on model species Arabidopsis thaliana as a source of novel plant-based enzymes that catalyze the important synthetic chemistry reactions, where carbohydrates and alcohols are converted to valuable carbonyl compounds that can be further used for example as flavors, fragrances, food additives, pharmaceutical compounds or building blocks for plastics. This project will advance our fundamental knowledge and the future potential of plant-derived biocatalysts with wide-reaching biological and applied consequences, supporting emerging bioeconomy and commitment to smarter use of renewable bioresources.
Project is funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation and conducted in collaboration with Mats Sandgren from the Swedish Agricultural University.