Fig. 5. Production of novel enhanced biopolymers and biopolymer synthesis as a target for drug discovery.

Production of novel biopolymers can be achieved by synthetic biology for the development of cell factories. In vitro enzymatic synthesis or modification of biopolymers as well as chemical modifications can achieve novel biopolymers with altered material properties and functions. Molecular biology and biochemical or biophysical approaches have provided insight into biosynthesis pathways of bacterial biopolymers. Selective inhibition of biopolymers that function as virulence factors offers targets for antimicrobial drug discovery. Systems biology, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering tools have accelerated the construction of novel cell factories for the production of novel bio-based materials. PA, polyamide; pEtN, phosphoethanolamine; PHA, polyhydroxyalkanoate; polyP, polyphosphate.