The research group of Synthetic Biology and Molecular Biotechnology focuses on gene regulation and gene expression in industrially applied fungi, mainly of the genus Trichoderma. As a main aspect the expression of carbohydrate-active enzymes, which is the valorised product of this fungus, is studied in order to optimize and stabilize production strains. The impact of transcription factors, regulatory RNAs, chromatin and epigenetics are investigated. A further focus is on the improvement of recombinant protein production by designing tailor-made fungal strains and the improvement of the genetic and molecular tools to accelerate strain development.

A second research topic is the introduction of new pathways into this saprotrophic fungus to use the recombinant strains as whole-cell catalysts for the production of chemical compounds from renewable non-food biopolymers. In our studies and research projects methods are widely based on synthetic biology and molecular biotechnology.