Improving yeast’s phenotype through CRISPR-Cas9 technology

Prof.

Rogelio Lopes Brandão is the coordinator of the Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory (LBCM-UFOP, Brazil). His group has experience in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Bioinformatics, focusing on Biochemistry of microorganisms, working in yeast biotechnology with the selection of yeast strains for cachaça production and other applications, such as ethanol, beer, and wine production. The Yeast Collection of the LBCM has more than 180 strains that were isolated from cachaça fermentation in very harsh conditions, which can lead to more tolerant and robust production organisms, characteristics of great importance for biotechnological purposes. The aim of the Visiting Researcher will be the establishment of the CRISPR-Cas9 technology in his laboratory to improve yeast’s characteristics such as the flocculation capacity, ethanol and aluminum resistance, maltose metabolism, flavor production, behind others, that can be modified alone or in combination. The improved yeast will be more suitable for industrial use.

Host: Prof.

Rogelio Lopes Brandão

Email address: rlbrand@ufop.edu.br

CV: 

http://lattes.cnpq.br/5985706469119679

Federal University of Ouro Preto 

Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto - Federal University of Ouro Preto (UFOP) is a higher education and research institution located in Minas Gerais State, southeastern Brazil. It was founded on August 21st, 1969, as a consolidation of two significant preexisting institutions: 

Escola de Farmácia - School of Pharmacy (1839), the first School of Pharmacy in Latin America, and Escola de Minas - School of Mines (1876), founded by the French mineralogist Henry Gorceix and the first Brazilian institution aimed to teach Mining, Metallurgy, and Geology. 

In addition to Escola de Minas and the Escola de Farmácia, UFOP covers all areas of knowledge in 13 academic units, distributed across four campi (located in the cities of Ouro Preto, Mariana, and João Monlevade). The main campus is located in Ouro Preto, a multicultural city with a vast calendar with some of the biggest cultural and artistic events in Brazil. It was the first place in Brazil to be considered by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage. UFOP comprises 142 research laboratories (in 2018 its patent number130 was registered), approximately 300 outreach projects (community engagement), 12 libraries (including a rare books library from 18th and 19th centuries), a Center of Arts and Conventions, a Movie Theater, and some museums, as the Museum of Pharmacy and the Museum of Mineralogy.