Rosanna Catherine Hennessy

BoostR is an innovative and multidisciplinary research program to identify and characterize small molecules regulating specialized metabolism in biotechnologically relevant bacteria. Specialized metabolites are an important and often untapped source of bioactive compounds with vast applications in industrial and environmental biotechnology. However, under laboratory conditions specialized metabolites are often not produced. To unlock these valuable pathways, a molecular level understanding of the regulators and genetic networks controlling specialized metabolite synthesis is needed. BoostR aims to unlock, unravel and utilize small regulatory molecules to control and boost production of high-value bioactive compounds for biotechnology. This research will benefit society by providing basic and applied research studies to develop new biological systems and products to promote productivity and sustainability.