In recent years, the number of identified non-proteinogenic amino acid-containing secondary metabolites and their biosynthetic gene clusters has greatly expanded in bacteria. A new family of stand-alone adenylation (A) domains involved in the incorporation of ß-amino acids has been previously described. Based on the protein structural analyses of three members of this new family, new ß-amino acid specificity-conferring codes have been proposed. A common specific feature of these stand-alone A domains is that they are co-encoded with a stand-alone acyl carrier protein domain. Based on these specific features, the French partner (BGPI) has identified two new stand-alone A domains expected to be involved in the incorporation of a ß-amino acid. These stand-alone A domains are present in two loci belonging to important pathogenic bacteria. According to their annotation, these loci encode two different new unknown molecules, respectively. Interestingly, by a genetic approach, these loci have both been shown to be required for the bacterial virulence. However, the chemical structure of the secondary metabolites synthesized by these loci remains unknown and the presence of a ß-amino acid has never been yet suspected and explored. This project aims at elucidating the chemical structure of the molecules encoded by these two loci, deciphering their biosynthesis pathways, and refining the functional assignment of their biosynthesis genes. This project will contribute to a better understanding of the incorporation of ß-amino acids by stand-alone A domains in bacteria. Since the targeted microorganisms are important pathogens, this project will essentially contribute to a deeper understanding of their pathogenicity. Consequently, the fight against these pathogens should therefore be facilitated by new data arising from the project. Since genome mining is an important approach to discover new loci encoding new natural products with potentially novel biological activities, this project proposes to mine bacterial genomic sequences available in Genbank for the presence of new loci encoding a stand-alone A domain specific of a ß amino acid. Depending on the biological activity of the characterized ß-amino acid-containing secondary metabolites, this project potentially could lead to industrial applications as antibiotics or plant protection agents. Patents obtained would potentially also contribute to the visibility of the project. The French and German partners BGPI and TU Berlin have developed a long-standing collaboration since 2005, working together on several projects including the structural characterization of the potent antibiotic albicidin.

To support the growing demand for electrochemical energy storage, complementary or even superior technological solutions over traditional Li-ion batteries are urgently needed. Aluminium batteries are particularly attractive candidates owing to their high projected volumetric energy density, low cost, high safety. Moreover, being the most abundant metal on the Earth crust, aluminium also matches the sustainability requirement that is mandatory to develop durable technologies. A critical feature of Al3+ intercalation chemistry is the high charge density of this cation that ultimately affects the electrolyte properties (solvation-desolvation processes) and the ability of host frameworks to reversibly accommodate a large proportion of Al3+ thus generating high energy. In this German-French consortium project, we study fundamental aspects as well as more applied cell-related challenges of the interfacial processes and materials chemistry pertinent to high-energy density aluminium batteries. We achieve this by working on a range of cell components and cell processes simultaneously, such as the electrolytes, electrode materials and electrode-electrolyte interfaces. Work will be focusing on oxide-based electrode materials with controlled amounts of cationic vacancies, that were shown in our earlier work to enable solid-state diffusion of Al3+ while providing additional insertion sites. Concomitantly, physicochemical properties (conductivity, speciation, etc) of suitable electrolytes and their interface with Al and the positive electrode material will be characterized using a wide array of in-situ und ex-situ techniques, such as X-ray Absorption, Nuclear Magnetic Resonance, high resolution Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray scattering and pair distribution function and others. Specifically, exploiting our defect engineering approach, the French group (Leader: Associate Prof. Damien Dambournet) will design novel intercalation compounds consisting of oxidic networks with unprecedented large content of cationic vacancies. For example, spinel iron oxide will be doped with high charge cations such as MoVI to generate large vacancy contents. The German group (Leader: Prof. Peter Strasser) will study the electrochemical dynamics of Al3+ intercalation of the new materials designed by the French group. The impact of the electrolyte properties on the electrochemistry will be investigated along with the electrodes-electrolyte interfaces. This project offers much added value between two premier research institutions and will benefit from a strong and already proven fruitful German-French collaboration on defective oxide materials for multi-valent batteries. Project outcomes will include fundamental and practical new insights into the intercalation chemistry, the cell processes, and the cell design of Al batteries, thus making important contributions to a greener, safer and higher-energy density battery technology in the future.

The multidisciplinary PASS-BIO project aims to establish a suitable, cost-efficient bioreactor module for the flexible conversion of a wide variety of feedstock to produce either short-chain carboxylic acids in an acidic fermentation or methane as alternative. The module shall follow a plug-flow principle. Although this technology is not new, its full potential concerning process robustness in comparison to the common stirred tank digester concepts is not used. Intensified monitoring, which takes advantage of the formation of spatial gradients along the flow direction, is used to make the operation autonomous and to provide an expert system for unexperienced users. The importance and impact of gradient formation, also in relation to feedstock flexibility, was not investigated in plug flow reactors so far, although gradient formation is a key characteristic of plug-flow type reactors. We postulate that the consideration of gradient formation will increase process stability at various feedstock compositions beyond the current state-of-the-art of anaerobic digesters. Several probe installations in the liquid phase along the length of the reactor will ensure a proper monitoring of these gradients, which provide indirect information of the hydrolysis (degradability) and acid formation. Besides monitoring, additives for the hydrolytic conversion are of increasing importance to ensure robustness for feedstock variation, however, tailored solutions for each process are required. This demand has not been coupled to the advantages of increased automation and parallelization on a plate scale so far. In order to ensure a fast adaptation of the plug-flow process to various feedstock resources, and to achieve solutions to control the process in case of insufficient hydrolysis, a small scale screening system methodology will be developed that allow the rapid identification of suitable additives. These will be tested in a scaled-down plug-flow reactor module, so that a whole strategy for the implementation and conduction of a plug-flow based acid fermentation with various feedstock is achieved. In order to couple this approach to other bioprocesses for value addition, a thin slurry separated from the dray matter of the acid fermentation, which contains carboxylic acids, will be applied as feedstock for a heterotrophic, microalgae-based production of the polyunsaturated fatty acid DHA for fish feed. In a final step, a demonstration of the plug-flow based digestion will be conducted at two associated partners, one industrial company and an eco-village. The feasibility of decentralized operation of such a concept, will be evaluated and discussed with experts and lay people in public presentations. Finally, economic and ecologic assessments of the applied techniques and concepts will provide data for future integration into regional cycles. In summary, the whole upstream process shall be made easier and reliable for fast adaptation as a contribution towards smart bioproduction grids.

Macroeconomists often assume that fluctuations of inflation and employment are associated with social costs. A central bank can use monetary policy to contain fluctuations in a country’s inflation and employment rates. In an economy affected by supply shocks, however, the central bank faces a tradeoff between stabilizing inflation and employment. The private sector, on the other hand, can theoretically absorb supply shocks by proper adjustments of wages and prices. Private responses to supply shocks should be more efficient, because they can address asymmetric shocks and relieve the central bank from stabilizing employment, so that it can achieve an efficient stabilization of inflation. But, price and wage adjustments are associated with a coordination problem, because prices in different sectors are strategic complements and the optimal response to an exogenous shock depends on the responses of other private agents. Central banks have the ability of solving the coordination problem by affecting product demand via the interest rate. However, monetary policy can just address aggregate shocks and may crowd out private responses that are, however, necessary for convergence to equilibrium after asymmetric shocks. We, thus, identify two sources of interactions: - Strategic substitution between central bank’s stabilization policy and private sector’s reaction: there is a conflict between the central bank and the private sector, since active stabilization is costly, although both parties benefit from stabilizing employment. - Strategic complementarity between actions of private sector’s agents: wage or price adjustments to macroeconomic shocks in one sector raise the incentives to adjust wages or prices in other sectors of the economy. In this research project, we will use laboratory experiments to generate data on a game that follows a modern macro model. The advantage of this approach is that we can implement different policy regimes in treatments that are otherwise equal and, thus, isolate the effects of transparency, cheap talk, and commitments to rules. Our specific research question is which policy regimes are best-suited to resolve the conflict of interests between central bank and a decentralized private sector in stabilizing employment and minimize the welfare costs of exogenous shocks.