Recipient Organization
SASYA, LLC
15716 60TH AVE N
PLYMOUTH,MN 55446
Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
In this project, Sasya aims to develop a tailored probiotic strain that is capable of directly producing nutrients in the GI tract of the host animal, where they are absorbed. Specifically, we will initially target the US broiler feed market, mainly because of large market size, dependency on expensive ingredients in the feed for profitability and an excellent support system for subject matter expertise and supply chain logistics. The broiler market is under duress from the constrained use of medicated feed in diets which afforded heavier birds and desperately seeking alternatives. A probiotic-mediated delivery of judiciously selected nutrients holds the promise to fill the void as an antibiotic alternative and can alleviate the need for dietary supplementation with improved bioavailability. Successful on-farm broiler studies suggested comfortable margins, warranting further development. Building on these results in Phase II, Sasya will genetically engineer probiotic strains of bacteria by assembling biosynthetic pathways for producing nutrients and fine-tuning their expression to balance product formation with gut colonization. To prevent the undesired proliferation of GMO strains, we will also implement biocontainment measures. We will also develop a viable production process to mass-produce the new probiotic and test its efficacy in broilers. We plan to build on our contract production and sales partnerships to enable rapid market penetration. If successful, this project represents significant innovation in the formulation of animal feed and directly supports USDA NIFA goals of providing safe, nutritious food and expanding opportunities for economic development in rural and tribal communities.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
10%
Applied
90%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to lead the development of engineered probiotics as delivery vehicles for dietary supplements. Specifically in this project, we engineer a probiotic strain of E. coli to synthesize creatine in the poultry gut. In addition to efficacy and performance, we will pay close attention to regulatory compliance, environmental, animal and human safety of the final product. The specific objectives we will achieve in this project are:Objective 1: To engineer the metabolic network of EcN to improve creatine productionObjective 2: To evaluate kill switch designs to validate biocontainment of EcNObjective 3: To determine gut colonization efficiency of creatine producing EcN strainsObjective 4: To develop a production process to be fungible with ingredient supply chain
Project Methods
We will heavily depend on our core competency in synthetic biology and industrial fermentation to commercialize engineered probiotics. We identified comptency gaps internally and retained relevant expertise on a part-time/consulting basis.We will use molecular biology and microbiology methods to genetically modify probiotic strains to produce creatine. We will develop enzyme assay methods to assess the efficiency of these genetic alterations. The final product profile will be measured using analytical instruments such as HPLC, GC-MS and other suitable equipment. The engineered strains will be produced in lab-scale fermentersto assess growth media and production conditions. Drying and final product formulation will be evaluated using various options such as a spray dryer, freeze dryer.We will also develop anin vitromodel of poultry GI tract to quickly and economically assess the impact of various genetic, environmental and process factors.