Paul Hudson
Paul Hudson
KTH Royal Institute of Technology
Research Interests
Research in my group is at the intersection of microbiology, metabolic engineering, and genomics. We are focused mainly on genetic engineering of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to produce biofuels and other chemicals. Cyanobacteria require only CO2 and sunlight as inputs and are thus promising for a variety of biotechnology applications. We employ many standard and new biotechnology techniques. We collaborate with groups that have expertise in metabolic modeling, metagenomics and bioinformatics, and high-throughput screening technologies. Research in the group is loosely divided into four areas:
Platform strains for chemical production. Several projects are centered on creating platform strains, cyanobacteria that produce high titers of versatile chemicals such as fatty acids or alcohols. These strains can be quickly adapted to produce variants of these platform chemicals or be used for more fundamental studies. Platform strains require introduction of new enzymes and pathways and possibly modification of transcription factors.
Genome-scale modeling. Here we use computational modeling to predict how the cell will respond to environmental or genomic changes. Our models are informed by systems biology, including transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics data. In this way the models become more accurate.
Genome engineering. We are working on new ways to quickly modify the genome of cyanobacteria to accelerate discovery and implementation new genes and pathways, such as new CRISPR-mediated techniques. These projects rely heavily on high-throughput screening technologies.
Photosynthetic growth. Our new cyanobacteria strains will be carefully analyzed using state-of-the-art bioreactors. Using these bioreactors, we can uncover connections between CO2 fixation, light absorption, and biofuel production. Bioreactors are also useful in adaptive evolution projects.
Group members
Paul Hudson, Assistant Professor
Danuta Kaczmarzyk, Post doc
Lun Yao, Post doc
Josefine Anfelt, PhD student
Ivana Cengic, PhD student
Kiyan Shabestary, PhD student
Markus Janasch, PhD student
Johannes Asplund Samuelsson, research scientist
Key publications
Yao L, Cengic I, Anfelt J, Hudson EP*. Multiple gene repression in cyanobacteria using CRISPRi. (2015) ACS Synthetic Biology http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.5b00264,
Anfelt J, Kaczmarzyk D, Shabestary K, Renberg B, Rockberg R, Nielsen J, Uhlen M, Hudson EP. Genetic and nutrient modulation of acetyl-CoA levels in Synechocystis for n-butanol production. (2015) Microbial Cell Factories 14 (1) 1-12
Hammar P, Angermayr SA, Sjöström SL, van der Meer J, Hellingwerf KJ, Hudson EP, Jönsson HN*. Single-cell screening of photosynthetic growth and lactate production by cyanobacteria. (2015) Biotechnology for Biofuels. 8 (1) 1-8
Anfelt J, Hallstrom B, Nielsen J, Uhlen M, Hudson EP. Using transcriptomics to improve butanol tolerance of Synechocystis PCC6803. Applied Environmental Microbiology. 79 (23), 7419-27 (2013)
External homepage
https://www.kth.se/profile/huds/
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