Deinove

Deinove's screening samples have been collected from a set of rigorously selected sites (mainly in metropolitan France and its overseas departments and territories) and in compliance with the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity.
Strains are isolated by using a proprietary, patented process developed by Deinove in collaboration with the CNRS. Only thermophilic bacteria (i.e. those growing at 45°C) are studied.

The subsequent screening process comprises the following steps:

• To select strains with the required characteristics, Deinove runs high-throughput growth assays on various media and measures the expression of enzymes of interest for digesting plant biomass (cellulolytic, hemicellulolytic, lignolytic and amylolytic activities).
• Rapid genotyping is used to characterize the deinococci selected in the screening process. The method combines the rapid extraction of bacterial DNA and specific amplification of Deinococcus-specific sequences. The candidate bacterium's genome is fully and very rapidly sequenced. The sequencing and gene annotation steps are performed in collaboration with the expert researchers in Professor Jean-Michel Claverie's group ( IGS-CNRS Marseille ). Deinove already has eight full deinococcal genome sequences which directly enable the identification of genes or sets of genes of potential value in industrial applications. These genes can then be transferred from a donor Deinococcus to a recipient Deinococcus, which will become the "optimized bacterial cell factory".

All the isolated bacteria and related data are managed within a secure strain library and an associated database.

Along with the deinococci's natural ability to assimilate new genes, the genetic engineering technologies developed by Deinove enable the company to amplify the metabolic pathways of interest and improve the candidate bacteria's performance levels under production conditions.

Deinococcal candidate strains which "hyper-produce" the compound of interest are then trialled in a lab-scale pilot fermenter, in order to check the culture conditions and prepare for scale-up to industrial pilots and plant trials.

After checking the process conditions on the lab pilot scale, Deinove hands over to industrial companies by licensing the technology to them.

Worldwide, the biotech industry is trying to build complex GMOs from simple, fragile bacteria. In contrast, Deinove is optimizing and exploiting the natural biodiversity of robust deinococci and extending their properties.