Juan Esteban Ramírez Morales

Name:

Nationality:

Colombian

Project ID:

ESR03

Anodic production of biochemicals based on Pseudomonas sp.

Short CV / biography:

I was born and grew up in Medellín, an important city in Colombia. Since I was a child I have been inclined for nature, and due to my specific interests for living beings and technology, I studied biological engineering. Shortly after finishing my bachelor, I went abroad to study my master in Chile, where I learnt more about bioprocessing and environmental technology. At the same time I have been getting professional experience in different international and recognized research groups, I have been also enjoying my free time travelling and knowing new cultures.

Juan on Linkedin

Juan on Researchgate

Short description of my topic:

My research project is about to produce valuable biochemicals (e.g. polyhydroxyalkanoate, free carboxylates and muconic acid) using cultures of Pseudomonas sp. growing on aromatic waste streams in the anodic chamber of an electrochemical bioreactor. This project is intended to establish a novel bioelectrochemical production platform in the industrial biotechnological field. Wastewater streams coming from biomass fractionation processes are used as subtrate. Specifically, we will use waste streams generated during lignin depolymerization processes. These streams are considered diffciult to degrade as they contains a complex variety of aromatic compounds. Nevertheless, they can be catabolized and transformed into valuable products by some strains of Pseudomonas sp. In this way, it could be possible to contribute to the lignin valorization and stablish a more sutainable biotechnological process.

My progress / state of the art :

My research proposal is divided into different serial stages. Briefly, they consist on selecting suitable aromatic waste streams and microbial hosts, genetic and metabolic engineering of the selected strain(s), demonstration of the bioproduction concept and product recovery. In this moment, I am studying the behavior of some strains of Pseudomonas sp. growing on aromatic waste streams coming from a lignin depolymerization process.