The research conducted by this U.O. primarily focuses on two areas: 1. Protein Engineering for Industrial Enzymology; research activities include the evolution of biocatalysts and the development of biocatalytic processes. 2. Recycling and upcycling processes of natural or synthetic feedstocks using engineered microorganisms or multi-enzymatic cascades. Over the years, our research group has acquired experience in the fields of enzymatic and system biocatalysis. Our laboratory is actively involved in cloning, characterizing, and recombinantly producing enzymes with novel functional properties relevant to biotechnological applications. Our biotechnological projects are focused on: - Cloning and overexpression of genes encoding enzymes essential for industrial applications in microorganisms. - Protein engineering of enzymes employing both rational design (site-directed mutagenesis) and directed evolution (random mutagenesis, screening, and mutant selection) approaches to produce variants tailored for specific biotechnological applications. - Production, purification, downstream processing, and scaling-up studies of recombinant proteins. - Covalent immobilization of enzymes on different matrices for application in bioreactors. - Setting up bioconversion processes to produce fine chemicals. - Development of biosensors for the detection and quantification of D-amino acids in food and biological samples.