Bioprospection of microorganisms for application in the synthesis of quiral alcohols of pharmaceutical and industrial interest

• Grant number: 07/51521-0
• Support Opportunities: BIOTA-FAPESP Program - Regular Research Grants
• Start date: October 01, 2007
• End date: September 30, 2009
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Chemistry
• Principal Investigator: Leandro Helgueira de Andrade
• Grantee: Leandro Helgueira de Andrade
• Host Institution: Instituto de Química (IQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In this project we will undertake bioprospection for microorganisms in reactions of enantion selective biocatalysis for application in the synthesis of chiral alcohols of pharmaceutical and industrial interest. To achieve this objective, we selected two chemical reactions which we defined as model reactions for our enantioselective enzymatic evaluation of the microorganisms (bioreduction of pro-chiral ketones and enantioselective bio-oxidation of racemic alcohols). The microorganisms will originate from two different sources (microorganisms catalogued in the BIOprospecTA database and microorganisms obtained through the process of induced isolation). In this case, we will use as source of microorganisms samples of soil and sediments collected in the Amazon Forest.The taxonomic characterization of the microorganisms will only be carried out for those microorganisms that exhibit excellent enzymatic activity in the enantioselective reactions tested. In addition to the stage of induced isolation of microorganisms, we propose to continue with the studies of synthetic applications of enzymes and microorganisms in the preparation of chiral chemical compounds. (AU)