Project Description

PKS and NRPS gene clusters are responsible for producing many clinically and industrially important natural products. However, full genome sequencing of large strain collections remains costly and time-consuming.

Targeted detection of AD and KS domains provides a powerful intermediate strategy to:

• Rapidly assess biosynthetic potential
• Prioritize strains for whole-genome sequencing
• Enable scalable, cost-effective bioprospecting pipelines

Automation is essential to make this approach feasible at scale.

Project Goals

This project aims to:

• Develop a fully automated OpenTrons Flex protocol for AD/KS domain amplification
• Implement combinatorial PCR strategies for broad domain coverage
• Integrate automated wet-lab workflows with long-read sequencing (ONT PromethION)
• Enable high-throughput screening of microbial strain libraries
• Establish a reproducible, modular pipeline for biosynthetic domain discovery

Acknowledgements

This project conducted in collaboration with Universitas Teknologi Sumbawa (UTS), Synbio.id and Integrated Genome Factory internship program.