Infrastructure

The infrastructure of the research center has been intensively developed in the last years, through the financial support of several national and international research projects of the research group members. Furthermore several instruments were obtained by donations from our long-time collaborators, Terapia Ranbaxy, Farmec, Kynetix.

The infrastructure is organized over several platforms:

  1. Recombinant protein expression and purification Platform – L.6 and L.36
  2. Protein engineering Platform - L.32 and L.33
  3. Enzyme technologies Platform - L.53, L.11, and L.16)
  4. Bioanalytical Platform - L.35 and L.25
  5. Protein crystallization Platform - L.9
  6. Computational facilities

The research center also has access to the strategic research facilities of the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Babes-Bolyai University (NMR spectrometers. Atomic absorption-emission spectrometer, etc.).

Regulation for the use of biotransformation and biocatalysis research center equipment.

Protein engineering Platform


Includes facilities for:
A. plasmid-based molecular cloning of recombinant proteins and mutagenesis techniques, such as error-prone PCR and saturation mutagenesis.

CFX96 Touch™ Real-Time PCR Detection System

Manufacturer: Bio-Rad
The CFX96 Touch System is a powerful, precise, and flexible real-time PCR detection system. This six-channel (five colors and one FRET channel) real-time PCR instrument combines advanced optical technology with precise temperature control to deliver sensitive, reliable detection for singlexplex or multiplex reactions.

Technical description

96-well PCR system, Mastercycler ProS

Manufacturer: Eppendorf
The Mastercycler ProS allows us to perform gradient PCRs in 96-well plate format.

Technical description

Termocycler Eppendorf Mastercycler Pro

Manufacturer: Eppendorf Co. 2007
Thermocycler with 24 positions, useful for PCR amplification procedures of DNA samples.

Transiluminator- UVP Bioimaging

Manufacturer: UVP Analytic Jena 2015
Filters for λ = 300, 302, 312 nm useful for detection of DNA in gels with dimensions of 15x15 to 25x26 cm.

BioTek Epoch 2 Microplate Spectrophotometer

Manufacturer: BioTek
Wavelength Range 200 to 999 nm; 6- to 384-well plates; Ambient + 4-65°C temperature control.

B. high-throughput screening of the enzyme variant libraries with in-house developed or implemented liquid- or solid phase activity or thermostability assays.

Prometheus NT.48

Manufacturer: NanoTemper Technologies GmbH 2016
Differential Scanning Fluorimeter which allows the high-throughput determination of protein stabilities, based on the detection of the intrinsec fluorescence of Trp and Tyr residues of proteins (sample concentration range: 5 µg/ml - 250 mg/ml).

Technical description

Microplate reader - TECAN 10M Spark

Manufacturer: Tecan Group Ltd.
Versatile microplate reader, capable of measuring fluorescence, absorbance, and luminescence, as well as cell confluency and cell number.

Technical description

Titramax 1000 shaker

Manufacturer: Heidolph 2014, 2016
32-48 sample positions, 150-1350 rpm, adjustable time range: 1-120 min, temperature range 20 - 65°.

Vibramax 100 shaker

Manufacturer: Heidolph 2009, 2015
150-1350 rpm, adjustable time range: 1-120 min.

Automated pipetting systems

Manufacturer: Eppendorf
epMotion 96
semi-automated, 96-well multi-channel pipette for fast and precise parallel microplate processing, with volume range of 0.5 µL to 300 µL.


epMotion 5070
for application such as serial dilutions, reagent distribution, sample transfer from tubes to plates, and sample normalization. Volume range of 0.2 µL – 1 mL.