Acronym
GameXP

Full Title
Genomic approaches to metabolite exploitation from Xenorhabdus, Photorhabdus

Programme
Fp7- HEALTH-Focused Research Project/ Collaborative project for specific cooperation actions dedicated to international cooperation partner countries (SICAS)

Contract Number
223328

Abstract
The majority of compounds used to treat diseases come from a single group of organisms, the actinomycetes. This over-reliance on a single organism to produce the worlds drugs is a major problem for the development of compounds with alternative modes of action which can overcome and delay the onset of drug resistance. To address this problem we will form an international multi-disciplinary group of experts to bioprospect for biologically active natural products. The central aim of this programme is to start rapidly deriving novel drugs from non-actinomycete sources. We will isolate novel strains of the proven but not well-explored drug producers Xenorhabdus and Photorhabdus. These bacteria will be isolated from insect pathogenic nematodes and characterized taxonomically (WP1) and strains will be analyzed for the production of novel compounds (WP2). This library of compounds will then be tested against a broad set of targets including bacteria, fungi, protozoans, nematodes, insects, and mammalian cell cultures (WP3). The five most productive bacterial strains will then be fully sequenced and used to construct genomic libraries. These libraries will be used to generate recombinant clones in heterologous hosts, enabling fast and efficient biotechnological production of the bioactive compounds (WP4). To ensure efficient interactions and comparability of results, especially regarding the bioactivity data, training sessions will be organized with seminars and hands on experience for each of the groups at a central site (WP5). Robust patent stuctures will ensure efficient technology transfer to our industrial partners (WP6) and overall coordination of the scientific and training programs will be overseen by WP7.

Duration
36 months (01/03/2009 – 29/02/2012)

Project Funding
2,689,160.00 €

Coordinator
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University
Frankfurt am Main
Institute for Molecular Bio Science
Prof. Helge B. Bode
Phone: +49 69 798 29522
Email

Partners
Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Institute for Molecular Bio Science (Prof. Helge B. Bode)

Vietnamese Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam
Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (Dr. Long Phan Ke)

Mahidol University, Thailand; Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit,
Faculty of Tropical Medicine (Dr. Sharon Peacock)

University of Bath, United Kingdom
Department of Biochemistry (Dr. Nick Waterfield)

University of Exeter, United Kingdom
Molecular Biology (Prof. Richard ffrench-Constant)

European Research and Project Office GmbH, Germany (Dr. Vera Siegmund)

Contact at Eurice
Dr. Vera Siegmund
Senior Programme Manager
Phone: +49 681 9592 3385
Email

Project Website
www.gamexp.eu