Eckhard Boles

Last updated

Eckhard Boles (born September 4, 1963 in Altena) is a German microbiologist and biotechnologist. Since 2003 he is professor of microbiology at the Goethe University Frankfurt with a focus on the physiology and genetics of lower eukaryotes. He works mainly on the optimization of yeasts for industrial biotechnology.

Contents

Life and work

Eckhard Boles was born in 1963 in Altena in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, and graduated from Burggymnasium Altena in 1983. From 1985 to 1990 he studied Chemistry and Biology at the University of Cologne and completed his studies with a diploma in Biology with a diploma thesis on the uptake and secretion of amino acids in Corynebacterium glutamicum at the Institute for Biotechnology of the Forschungszentrum Jülich ("Jülich Research Centre") in the research group of Reinhard Krämer. From 1990 to 1994, Boles worked as a scientific assistant at the Institute of Microbiology and Genetics at the Technical University of Darmstadt in the research group of Friedrich K. Zimmermann, where he received his doctorate in 1994 with a thesis on the regulation of glycolysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae . [1] [2] [3]

Until 1995 he stayed at the TH Darmstadt as a post-doctoral fellow and worked on the function of fructose-2,6-bisphosphate in the glycolysis of baker's yeast. From 1996 to 2001 he worked as a scientific assistant (C1) at the Institute for Microbiology at the University of Düsseldorf and until 2000 he worked on his habilitation on glucose transport and metabolism in yeasts. He received his Venia Legendi in 2001 and remained as a senior assistant (C2) at the University of Düsseldorf until 2002. In 2002 he moved to the Goethe University in Frankfurt, where he was appointed to a chair as C3 Professor of Microbiology. Since November 2011 he has been W3 Professor of Microbiology with a focus on Physiology and Genetics of Lower Eukaryotes at the same institute. [2]

In the summer of 2007, Boles co-founded Butalco GmbH, Zug, Switzerland, together with Gunter Festel. In 2012 Butalco sold its xylose technology to the French yeast producer Lesaffre, which wanted to become the world market leader for yeast for the production of first-generation cereal-based bioethanol and also active in the second generation sector. Two years later Lesaffre took over Butalco completely and integrated it into the Lesaffre group as an independent unit. [4] [5] Boles was also co-founder of the biotechnology company Gothia Yeast Solutions in Gothenburg, Sweden. [2]

Research topics

The research work of Eckhard Boles and his research group focuses on the investigation of general metabolic and regulatory processes of yeasts as well as the development of technologies to improve the applications of yeasts in biotechnology. The research focuses on

Bibliography (selection)

Eckhard Boles regularly publishes articles on his research activities in scientific journals. These are contributions to original research as well as review articles on central topics in molecular biology and biotechnology. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeast</span> Informal group of fungi

Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. The first yeast originated hundreds of millions of years ago, and at least 1,500 species are currently recognized. They are estimated to constitute 1% of all described fungal species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baker's yeast</span> Strains of yeast commonly used as a leavening agent in baking

Baker's yeast is the common name for the strains of yeast commonly used in baking bread and other bakery products, serving as a leavening agent which causes the bread to rise by converting the fermentable sugars present in the dough into carbon dioxide and ethanol. Baker's yeast is of the species Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and is the same species as the kind commonly used in alcoholic fermentation, which is called brewer's yeast. Baker's yeast is also a single-cell microorganism found on and around the human body.

<i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> Species of yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a species of yeast. The species has been instrumental in winemaking, baking, and brewing since ancient times. It is believed to have been originally isolated from the skin of grapes. It is one of the most intensively studied eukaryotic model organisms in molecular and cell biology, much like Escherichia coli as the model bacterium. It is the microorganism behind the most common type of fermentation. S. cerevisiae cells are round to ovoid, 5–10 μm in diameter. It reproduces by budding.

Pichia pastoris is a species of methylotrophic yeast. It was found in the 1960s, with its feature of using methanol as a source of carbon and energy. After years of study, P. pastoris was widely used in biochemical research and biotech industries. With strong potential for being an expression system for protein production, as well as being a model organism for genetic study, P. pastoris has become important for biological research and biotech applications. In the last decade, some reports reassigned P. pastoris to the genus Komagataella with phylogenetic analysis, by genome sequencing of P. pastoris. The genus was split into K. phaffii, K. pastoris, and K. pseudopastoris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Glucose transporter</span> Family of monosaccharide transport proteins

Glucose transporters are a wide group of membrane proteins that facilitate the transport of glucose across the plasma membrane, a process known as facilitated diffusion. Because glucose is a vital source of energy for all life, these transporters are present in all phyla. The GLUT or SLC2A family are a protein family that is found in most mammalian cells. 14 GLUTS are encoded by human genome. GLUT is a type of uniporter transporter protein.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mandelic acid</span> Chemical compound

Mandelic acid is an aromatic alpha hydroxy acid with the molecular formula C6H5CH(OH)CO2H. It is a white crystalline solid that is soluble in water and polar organic solvents. It is a useful precursor to various drugs. The molecule is chiral. The racemic mixture is known as paramandelic acid.

<i>Zygosaccharomyces bailii</i> Species of fungus

Zygosaccharomyces bailii is a species in the genus Zygosaccharomyces. It was initially described as Saccharomyces bailii by Lindner in 1895, but in 1983 it was reclassified as Zygosaccharomyces bailii in the work by Barnett et al.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Butanol fuel</span> Fuel for internal combustion engines

Butanol may be used as a fuel in an internal combustion engine. It is more similar to gasoline than it is to ethanol. A C4-hydrocarbon, butanol is a drop-in fuel and thus works in vehicles designed for use with gasoline without modification. Both n-butanol and isobutanol have been studied as possible fuels. Both can be produced from biomass (as "biobutanol" ) as well as from fossil fuels (as "petrobutanol"). The chemical properties depend on the isomer (n-butanol or isobutanol), not on the production method.

Zymomonas mobilis is a Gram negative, facultative anaerobic, non-sporulating, polarly-flagellated, rod-shaped bacterium. It is the only species found in the genus Zymomonas. It has notable bioethanol-producing capabilities, which surpass yeast in some aspects. It was originally isolated from alcoholic beverages like the African palm wine, the Mexican pulque, and also as a contaminant of cider and beer in European countries.

<i>Saccharomyces boulardii</i> Species of fungus

Saccharomyces boulardii is a tropical yeast first isolated from lychee and mangosteen fruit peel in 1923 by French scientist Henri Boulard. Although early reports claimed distinct taxonomic, metabolic, and genetic properties, S. boulardii is genetically a grouping of S. cerevisiae strains, sharing >99% genomic relatedness, giving the synonym S. cerevisiae var. boulardii.

Lachancea kluyveri is an ascomycetous yeast associated with fruit flies, slime fluxes, soils and foods.

A killer yeast is a yeast, such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is able to secrete one of a number of toxic proteins which are lethal to susceptible cells. These "killer toxins" are polypeptides that kill sensitive cells of the same or related species, often functioning by creating pores in target cell membranes. These yeast cells are immune to the toxic effects of the protein due to an intrinsic immunity. Killer yeast strains can be a problem in commercial processing because they can kill desirable strains. The killer yeast system was first described in 1963. Study of killer toxins helped to better understand the secretion pathway of yeast, which is similar to those of more complex eukaryotes. It also can be used in treatment of some diseases, mainly those caused by fungi.

Mucor indicus is among the most important members of zygomycetes fungi. This dimorphic fungus is capable of production of several valuable products. Some strains of the fungus have been isolated from the traditional Indonesian food tempeh. M. indicus is nowadays used for production of several homemade food and beverages especially in Asia. This has also been successfully used as a safe nutritional source for fish and rat. The fungus is generally regarded as safe though there are few reports claiming that this is a pathogenic fungus.

Snf3 is a protein which regulates glucose uptake in yeast. It senses glucose in the environment with high affinity.

Saccharomyces eubayanus, a cryotolerant type of yeast, is most likely the parent of the lager brewing yeast, Saccharomyces pastorianus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yeast in winemaking</span> Yeasts used for alcoholic fermentation of wine

The role of yeast in winemaking is the most important element that distinguishes wine from fruit juice. In the absence of oxygen, yeast converts the sugars of the fruit into alcohol and carbon dioxide through the process of fermentation. The more sugars in the grapes, the higher the potential alcohol level of the wine if the yeast are allowed to carry out fermentation to dryness. Sometimes winemakers will stop fermentation early in order to leave some residual sugars and sweetness in the wine such as with dessert wines. This can be achieved by dropping fermentation temperatures to the point where the yeast are inactive, sterile filtering the wine to remove the yeast or fortification with brandy or neutral spirits to kill off the yeast cells. If fermentation is unintentionally stopped, such as when the yeasts become exhausted of available nutrients and the wine has not yet reached dryness, this is considered a stuck fermentation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jens Nielsen</span> Danish biologist

Jens Nielsen is the CEO of BioInnovation Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark, and professor of systems biology at Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden. He is also an adjunct professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Nielsen is the most cited researcher in the field of metabolic engineering, and he is the founding president of the International Metabolic Engineering Society. He has additionally founded several biotech companies.

Saccharomyces kudriavzevii, is a species of yeast in the Saccharomyces sensu stricto complex. Its type strain is NCYC 2889T. It is used in production of alcoholic beverages, including pinot noir wine, and hybrids of it are used in beer brewing. It is isolated widely from the bark of oak trees.

Aerobic fermentation or aerobic glycolysis is a metabolic process by which cells metabolize sugars via fermentation in the presence of oxygen and occurs through the repression of normal respiratory metabolism. It is referred to as the Crabtree effect in yeast. and is part of the Warburg effect in tumor cells. While aerobic fermentation does not produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in high yield, it allows proliferating cells to convert nutrients such as glucose and glutamine more efficiently into biomass by avoiding unnecessary catabolic oxidation of such nutrients into carbon dioxide, preserving carbon-carbon bonds and promoting anabolism.

John Patrick Morrissey is an Irish microbiologist and biotechnologist. Since 2000 he has worked and taught as Professor of Microbiology at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. Recently he works mainly on the optimisation of yeasts for industrial biotechnology, but is also involved in the works with several other organisms.

References

  1. E. Boles: Molekulargenetische und physiologische Untersuchungen zur Regulation des Kohlenhydratstoffwechsels in Glykolysemutanten der Hefe "Saccharomyces cerevisiae" / eingereicht von Eckhard Boles. Technische Hochschule Darmstadt, Dissertation 1994.
  2. 1 2 3 Curriculum Vitae - Prof. Dr. Eckhard Boles at Goethe University Frankfurt; Access date: 7. Februar 2019.
  3. Publications/Patents/Reviews of Eckhard Boles at Goethe University Frankfurt; Access date: 7. Februar 2019.
  4. Gunter Festel: Spin-offs brauchen klare Bekenntnisse laborjournal.de, 3. Juli 2018; Access date: 7. Februar 2019.
  5. Frank Grotelüschen: Neue Hefen für Biokraftstoffe. deutschlandfunk.de, 28. März 2017; Access date: 7. Februar 2019.
  6. "Eckhard Boles - Google Scholar Citations".