Mathias Steinacher


Last Name

Steinacher

First Name

Mathias

ORCID

0000-0002-5906-7803

Organisational unit

03831 - Studart, André R. / Studart, André R.

Filters

2017 - 201912020 - 20252
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Publications 1 - 3 of 3
  • Colloidal polycrystalline monolayers under oscillatory shear
    Item type: Journal Article
    Buttinoni, Ivo; Steinacher, Mathias; Spanke, Hendrik; et al. (2017)
    Physical Review E
  • Directed evolution of material-producing microorganisms
    Item type: Journal Article
    Laurent, Julie Marine; Jain, Ankit; Kan, Anton; et al. (2024)
    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
    Nature is home to a variety of microorganisms that create materials under environmentally friendly conditions. While this offers an attractive approach for sustainable manufacturing, the production of materials by native microorganisms is usually slow and synthetic biology tools to engineer faster microorganisms are only available when prior knowledge of genotype–phenotype links is available. Here, we utilize a high-throughput directed evolution platform to enhance the fitness of whole microorganisms under selection pressure and identify genetic pathways to enhance the material production capabilities of native species. Using Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans as a model cellulose-producing microorganism, we show that our droplet-based microfluidic platform enables the directed evolution of these bacteria toward a small number of cellulose overproducers from an initial pool of 40,000 random mutants. Sequencing of the evolved strains reveals an unexpected link between the cellulose-forming ability of the bacteria and a gene encoding a protease complex responsible for protein turnover in the cell. The ability to enhance the fitness of microorganisms toward a specific phenotype and to unravel genotype–phenotype links makes this high-throughput directed evolution platform a promising tool for the development of new strains for the sustainable manufacturing of materials.
  • Genetic Impacts on the Structure and Mechanics of Cellulose Made by Bacteria
    Item type: Journal Article
    Laurent, Julie M.; Steinacher, Mathias; Kan, Anton; et al. (2025)
    Advanced Science
    The synthesis of cellulose pellicles by bacteria offers an enticing strategy for the biofabrication of sustainable materials and biomedical devices. To leverage this potential, bacterial strains that overproduce cellulose are identified through directed evolution technology. While cellulose overproduction is linked with a specific genetic mutation, the effect of such mutation on the intracellular protein landscape and on the structure and mechanical properties of the cellulose pellicles is not yet understood. Here, the proteome of bacteria evolved to overproduce cellulose is studied and its effect on the structure and mechanics of the resulting cellulose pellicles is investigated. Proteomic analysis reveals that the protein landscape of the evolved bacteria shows pronounced differences from that of native microorganisms. Thanks to concerted changes in the proteome, the evolved bacteria can generate cellulose pellicles with exquisite structure and improved mechanical properties for applications in textiles, packaging, and medical implants.
Publications 1 - 3 of 3