Long before photosynthesis made oxygen ubiquitous in our world, a wide range of organisms were happily thriving on Earth. For these organisms, oxygen was life-threatening, so they developed completely different metabolic pathways from those we see in plants, animals, and humans today. 

Anaerobic bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-free environments, have survived through the ages and are found close to us, such as in the intestinal microbiome, where they play a crucial role in our well-being. However, certain anaerobes can also cause life-threatening diseases like tetanus and botulism. These bacteria significantly influence life on Earth and hold key environmental roles. Critically, their unique metabolism makes them valuable in biotechnology.

The "AnoxyGen" project seeks to unlock the vast, untapped biosynthetic potential of anaerobes. Despite their genomes' capacity to produce novel compounds, most biosynthetic genes remain inactive in laboratory conditions, leaving these products undiscovered.

Prof. Dr. Christian Hertweck and his team aim to change this. Utilizing newly developed molecular and synthetic biology tools, the researchers plan to decode and exploit these bacteria's unknown metabolic pathways. The project includes multiple work areas using a powerful expression system to identify and modify new active compounds. This approach will also allow the team to produce and study toxins and virulence factors from pathogenic anaerobes without needing to cultivate large amounts of the pathogens.

“With this project, we want to provide novel methods and tools for the scientific community. We hope that ‘AnoxyGen’ will be of great benefit, particularly for medicine, but also for ecology and biotechnology,” explains Hertweck. “Anaerobic bacteria are still under-researched, but their metabolic processes offer great potential for the discovery of new active compounds. We can also gain new insights into their role as pathogens.” 

Hertweck, who has been recognized for his scientific creativity with the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Prize and the Ernst Jung Prize for Medicine, is also contributing to the Balance of the Microverse Cluster of Excellence, which studies microbial community formation and balance. Due to methodological challenges, anaerobic bacteria have been understudied, a gap Hertweck now intends to fill.

The ERC Advanced Grant, one of the European Union's most prestigious awards, acknowledges the excellence and innovation of top researchers. Christian Hertweck's "AnoxyGen" project was selected for its potential to expand our understanding of microbial biosynthesis and develop new biotechnological applications. With substantial financial support, Hertweck and his interdisciplinary team will explore this topic over the next five years.

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