Kourist Team

AMDase rendering (click to enlarge)

Research Goals

Major interest is the engineering and application of enzymes for synthetic purposes. Focus lies on lyases and oxidoreductases. Combination of the biocatalysts to enzyme cascade reactions gives rise to the production of optically pure building blocks and bio-based products. Using autotrophic microorganisms, inexpensive inorganic energy sources can be used to fuel cofactor regeneration. Besides the molecular characterization, development of methods and strategies for engineering of enzymes by designed evolution is pursued. Highly integrated approaches, combining rational and evolutionary routes are followed. This work includes strong interaction with structural biology and organic chemistry as well as analytical chemistry. Highlights of this research are the development of decarboxylase variants with improved activity and selectivity, the combination of lyases with metal-catalyzed reactions in organic solvents and the coupling of oxidoreductases to photosynthesis.

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Current Theses

  • Aline Telzerow: Widening the substrate scope of transaminases by protein engineering
  • Anna Schweiger: Engineering of novel selective Decarboxylases

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Alessia Valotta, Lenny Malihan-Yap, Kerstin Hinteregger, Robert Kourist and Heidrun Gruber-Wölfler Design and investigation of a photocatalytic setup for efficient biotransformations within recombinant cyanobacteria in continuous flow
Gábor Szilveszter Tóth, Vilja Siitonen, Lauri Nikkanen, Lucija Sovic, Pauli Kallio, Robert Kourist, Sergey Kosourov and Yagut Allahverdiyeva Photosynthetically produced sucrose by immobilized Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 drives biotransformation in E. coli
Jelena Spasic, Paulo Oliveira, Catarina Pacheco, Robert Kourist and Paula Tamagnini Engineering cyanobacterial chassis for improved electron supply toward a heterologous ene-reductase
Francesco Mascia, Sara B. Pereira, Catarina C. Pacheco, Paulo Oliveira, Jennifer Solarczek, Anett Schallmey, Robert Kourist, Véronique Alphand and Paula Tamagnini Light-driven hydroxylation of testosterone by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 expressing the heterologous CYP450 monooxygenase CYP110D1
Valentina Jurkaš, Florian Weissensteiner, Piera De Santis, Stephan Vrabl, Frieda A. Sorgenfrei, Sarah Bierbaumer, Selin Kara, Robert Kourist, Pramod P. Wangikar, Christoph K. Winkler and Wolfgang Kroutil Transmembrane Shuttling of Photosynthetically Produced Electrons to Propel Extracellular Biocatalytic Redox Reactions in a Modular Fashion
Fatma Feyza Özgen, Alexandra Jorea, Luca Capaldo, Robert Kourist, Davide Ravelli and Sandy Schmidt The Synthesis of Chiral γ-Lactones by Merging Decatungstate Photocatalysis with Biocatalysis
Robert Kourist and Shina Caroline Lynn Kamerlin A Structural View into the Complexity of Carbon Dioxide Fixation
Nicole Dimos, Carl P.O. Helmer, Andrea M. Chánique, Markus C. Wahl, Robert Kourist, Tarek Hilal and Bernhard Loll CryoEM analysis of small plant biocatalysts at sub-2 Å resolution
Elif Erdem, Lenny Malihan-Yap, Leen Assil-Companioni, Hanna Grimm, Giovanni Davide Barone, Carole Serveau-Avesque, Agnes Amouric, Katia Duquesne, Véronique De Berardinis, Yagut Allahverdiyeva, Véronique Alphand and Robert Kourist Photobiocatalytic Oxyfunctionalization with High Reaction Rate using a Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenase from Burkholderia xenovorans in Metabolically Engineered Cyanobacteria
Andrea M. Chánique, Nakia Polidori, Lucija Sovic, Daniel Kracher, Leen Assil-Companioni, Philipp Galuska, Loreto P. Parra, Karl Gruber and Robert Kourist A Cold-Active Flavin-Dependent Monooxygenase from Janthinobacterium svalbardensis Unlocks Applications of Baeyer-Villiger Monooxygenases at Low Temperature
Giovanni Davide Barone, Michal Hubáček, Lenny Malihan-Yap, Hanna C. Grimm, Lauri Nikkanen, Catarina C. Pacheco, Paula Tamagnini, Yagut Allahverdiyeva and Robert Kourist Towards the rate limit of heterologous biotechnological reactions in recombinant cyanobacteria
Véronique Alphand, Willem J.H. van Berkel, Valentina Jurkaš, Selin Kara, Robert Kourist, Wolfgang Kroutil, Francesco Mascia, Marc M. Nowaczyk, Caroline E. Paul, Sandy Schmidt, Jelena Spasic, Paula Tamagnini and Christoph K. Winkler Exciting Enzymes
Henrik Terholsen, Kamela Myrtollari, Mirna Larva, Christina Möller, Andreas Taden, Robert Kourist, Uwe T. Bornscheuer and Daniel Kracher Spectrophotometric and Fluorimetric High-Throughput Assays for Phenolic Acid Decarboxylase
Vilja Siitonen, Anna Probst, Gábor Tóth, Robert Kourist, Michael Schroda, Sergey Kosourov and Yagut Allahverdiyeva Engineered green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii as a whole-cell photosynthetic biocatalyst for stepwise photoproduction of H2 and ϵ-caprolactone
Hanna C. Grimm and Robert Kourist Cyanobakterien als nachhaltige Katalysatoren
Rajeev Pasupuleti, Sabrina Riedl, Laia Saltor Núñez, Marianna Karava, Vajinder Kumar, Robert Kourist, W. Bruce Turnbull, Dagmar Zweytick and Birgit Wiltschi Lectin-anticancer peptide fusion demonstrates a significant cancer-cell-selective cytotoxic effect and inspires the production of “clickable” anticancer peptide in Escherichia coli
Simon Arhar, Thomas Rauter, Holly Stolterfoht, Vera Lambauer, Regina Kratzer, Margit Winkler, Marianna Karava, Robert Kourist and Anita Emmerstorfer-Augustin CO2-based production of phytase from highly stable expression plasmids in Cupriavidus necator H16
Michal Hubáček, Laura T. Wey, Robert Kourist, Lenny Malihan-Yap, Lauri Nikkanen and Yagut Allahverdiyeva Strong heterologous electron sink outcompetes alternative electron transport pathways in photosynthesis
Kamela Myrtollari, Elia Calderini, Daniel Kracher, Tobias Schöngaßner, Stela Galušić, Anita Slavica, Andreas Taden, Daniel Mokos, Anna Schrüfer, Gregor Wirnsberger, Karl Gruber, Bastian Daniel and Robert Kourist Stability Increase of Phenolic Acid Decarboxylase by a Combination of Protein and Solvent Engineering Unlocks Applications at Elevated Temperatures
Lucija Sovic, Lenny Malihan-Yap, Gábor Szilveszter Tóth, Vilja Siitonen, Véronique Alphand, Yagut Allahverdiyeva and Robert Kourist Sucrose as an electron source for cofactor regeneration in recombinant Escherichia coli expressing invertase and a Baeyer Villiger monooxygenase
Research group leader
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Robert Kourist
Univ.-Prof. Dr.rer.nat.
Office hours: Wednesday, 9:00-11:00 (room BKEG05058)