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Hosting Company: BioPox
Founded in 2011 by a skilled team of specialised scientists, BioPox S.R.L. (Italian Private Limited Company) was born with the idea to bridge the gap between Research and Industry developing innovative solutions to integrate or partially substitute traditional chemical processes with bio-based ones. Joining together a long-term experience on enzyme characterisation with the ever-increasing demand of enzymes in several industrial applications, BioPox proposes to the market a range of enzymes-based products/processes to meet both consolidated and cutting-edge industrial needs. BioPox is also a profitable premier providing of “on-demand” recombinant proteins, from gene cloning to protein expression, purification and product characterisation. The research group at BioPox has expertise in industrial applications of fungi, mould, yeast and bacteria, and of their oxidative/ hydrolytic enzymatic systems. Recent research interests are: studies of structure-function relationships of laccases; rational and random mutagenesis of laccases for tailor-adapting enzymes to industrial processes; optimization of fermentation and downstream processes of soluble recombinant proteins, bioactivation of polymer surface for biosensoring and drug delivery, development of biotech systems for the tanning industry, designing of innovative products and processes in the food & beverage industries.
Researchers associated with INTERfaces
Prof. Giovanni Sannia founder, expert in industrial applications of enzymes (laccases) and microorganisms. Dr. Vincenzo Lettera founder and CEO, expert in oxidative enzymes, industrial applications and in microbial fermentations. Dr. Cinzia Pezzella founder, skilled in immobilization of enzymes on different carriers, protein recombinant expression and downstream processing. ESR7 will be supervised by Prof. Giovanni Sannia.
Key Research Facilities, Infrastructure and Equipment
The BioPox group facilities comprise fully equipped biochemistry, enzymology, microbiology and molecular biology laboratories. BioPox has access to Thermal Gradient Cycler PTC-200 Peltier -Celio, MyCycler Thermal Cycler -Bio-Rad, Real Time PCR System -Applied Biosystems; chromatographic systems (FPLC and HPLC); Biomek® 3000 Laboratory Automation Workstation -Beckman Coulter, Microplate Spectrophotometer Benchmark Plus -Bio-Rad, Zeiss LSM700 confocal microscopy; lab scale fully automated fermenters from 0.5 to 15 litres; centrifugation and ultrafiltration facilities.
Relevant Publications and/or Research / Innovation Product
- G. Simona, C. Pezzella, B. Della Ventura, V.G. Giacobelli, M. Rossi, C. Fontanarosa, A. Amoresano, G. Sannia, R. Velotta, A. Piscitelli. Green synthesis of conductive polyaniline by Trametes versicolor laccase using a DNA template Eng. Life Sci. 2019, 19, 631-642. doi.org/10.1002/elsc.201900078
- S. Giacobbe, A. Piscitelli, F. Raganati, V. Lettera, G. Sannia, A. Marzocchella, C. Pezzella. Butanol production from laccase-pretreated brewer’s spent grain. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS, 2019,12, ISSN: 1754-6834, doi: 10.1186/s13068-019-1383-1
- S. Giacobbe, C. Pezzella, V. Lettera, G. Sannia, A. Piscitelli. Laccase pretreatment for agrofood wastes valorization. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY, 2018, 265, 59-65, ISSN: 0960-8524, doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2018.05.108
- C. Pezzella, V.G. Giacobelli, V. Lettera, G. Olivieri, P. Cicatiello, G. Sannia, A. Piscitelli. A step forward in laccase exploitation: recombinant production and evaluation of techno-economic feasibility of the process. J. Biotechnol., 2017, 259,175-181.