Biocatalysis and Biotransformation Research Group

Research Area Coordinator: Carla C.C.R. de Carvalho

The Marine Biotechnology area aims at the development of bioprocesses using bacterial cells and their enzymes. This involves sampling in marine biodiversity hotspots and extreme environments, the isolation of microorganisms under laboratorial conditions and the screening for enzyme activities, and the production of commercially interesting metabolites. The current library of bacterial isolates, has several strains able to convert industrial revelant substrates. The application of bioprocess engineering has allowed the development of bioprocesses based on whole cells and enzymes, at the L-scale, and suitable purification and analytical methods for the production of compounds, for e.g. the food, cosmetic, and textile industries. Bacterial strains for the bioremediation of toxic compounds have also been isolated and applied.

Research Area Coordinator: Maria Teresa Cesário

In the perspective of a Circular Economy, residual biomass, marine or terrestrial, owe to be processed to new end-products or as raw materials to be reincorporated into production cycles.  Aiming at this, our group is using fractionation and/or fermentation technologies to upgrade biomass or their fractions to value-added products.

The carbohydrate fraction of lignocellulosic agricultural residues, vegetable kitchen waste and of macroalgae has been used as carbon source in biological processes to produce bacterial metabolites namely biodegradable polyesters – polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) and organic acids (gluconic or xylonic acids). Bioreactor cultivations operating either in fed-batch or in continuous mode have been developed aiming at high sugar conversions and productivities. Both terrestrial and marine PHA-producing bacteria have been used as biocatalysts.

Besides the carbohydrate fraction, macroalgae (seaweed) are rich in proteins and bioactive molecules like peptides, polyphenols and carotenoids. Biorefinery processes aiming at the cascade extraction of these fractions are being developed. In particular, the extraction of the protein fraction using aqueous solutions and more recently green solvents is being assessed to being used as ALTERNATIVE PROTEINS for aquafeed. Besides extraction, microbial protein ingredients obtained through the fermentation of macroalgae have been targeted as Alternative Proteins. Fermentation decreases crude fibre and improves algal protein bio-accessibility, content and quality. Further, the nutritional and bioactive properties of these products are improved due to microbial vitamins, proteins and essential amino acids.

Recently, underexploited residual marine biomass such as marine invertebrate castoffs from bivalve molluscs and cephalopod is being upgraded through fermentation by yeasts and/or bacteria into microbial protein biomasses for more nutritious, high-value and sustainable food, feed and non-food products.

Research Area Coordinator: Luis P. Fonseca

Polymers via Biocatalysis and Green Chemistry like polyesters (IST-patent) and polyamides with pendent functional groups (e.g., hydroxy, carboxylic, amine, epoxy, thiol, vinyl, others) that meet the manufacturers’ performance requirements and add functionality for textile, automotive, furniture, and polymeric resins applications. Additionally, the novel polymers also include eco-design principles, i.e., incorporate strategic points in the polymer backbone chain that allow faster biodegradability/compostability and/or hydrolysis of cleavage bonds particularly -C-O- and/or -C-N- with the release of monomers, oligomers, and/or small polymer fractions that are fed to a new cycle of polymer production on the development of closed-loop recycling technologies contributing for an innovative plastic circular economy.

Research Area Coordinator:  Ana Lanham

Bioprocesses for wastewater treatment is the largest biotechnological application by volume in the world. These processes rely on the microbial, metabolic and eco-physiological diversity and resilience of open microbiomes applied to engineered systems to treat water, waste and wastewater and to recover valuable resources such as fine chemicals, polymers, nutrients and energy.

This area aims to understand these systems and their microbiomes, so that we can optimise, or design, new and more fitting processes underpinned by the concepts of circular, sustainable and zero-waste systems.

Our team’s expertise includes designing experimental and modelling studies both at lab and full scale using various microbiological techniques, from microscopy to metagenomics, and combining this with bioprocess engineering skills in various bioreactor designs. We have worked with a wide range of partners, from academia to water utilities and industrial partners, at national and international level. Our interests cover microbial, and microalgae-bacteria consortia systems and more recently the impact of viromes (phage) on open microbiomes for the purpose of organic feedstock fermentation into chemical building blocks, and wastewater treatment, namely advanced biological phosphorus removal and textile dye bioconversion.

Research Area Coordinator:  Frederico Ferreira

The focus areas pMESH at 2BRG and dMESH at SCERG operate synergistically to foster collaborative research at Alameda and Tagus Park.

Aligned with 2BRG mission, pMESH contributes to foster circular and bioeconomy by (i) developing new processes to valorises agro-industrial effluents into added value products, such as biosurfactants, fuels and enzymes exploiting non-conventional yeasts and designing environmentally friendly solutions for the cosmetics, detergents and bioremediation industries, (ii) developing novel nanostructures materials to support health applications as well as size and molecular recognition based separations, and (iii) optimization of novel (bio)reactors and processes to enhance food and pharma production  sustainability. pMESH holds proprietary knowledge on processes, bioreactors, separations, as well as new materials such as functional nanoparticles, molecular imprinted polymers and membranes (PT106959, PT107637, PT109480, PT117220, PT117583 PT118115, PT118493).

Ongoing and past pMESH’s projects include mannosylerythritol lipid production and applications to cosmetics and fuels, (SURFsUp, Cruise, Mero), genotoxic removal of active pharmaceutical ingredients (GenoSep, SelectHost), water reuse and added value products within lupin beans processing (Biorg4WasteWaterVal+).

pMESH holds labs on Biosurfactants and Biofuels, Nanomaterials for Bioeconomy and Processes for Sustainable Food and Pharma.

Laboratories:

Processes for Sustainable Food and Pharma (Pro-Sus) (PI: Frederico Ferreira).

Biosurfactants and Biofuels (BioSurfuel) (PI: Nuno Faria)

Nanomaterials for Bioeconomy (NanoBio) (PI: Teresa Esteves)