Plants: biofactories for a sustainable future?
Plants: biofactories for a sustainable future?
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DOI：
10.1098/rsta.2010.0347
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发表时间：
2011-05-13
期刊：
影响因子：
5
通讯作者：
Edwards, Robert
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jenkins, Thomas;Bovi, Aurelie;Edwards, Robert
石油储量的枯竭及其对气候变化的相关影响促使人们重新审视利用植物生物质作为大规模生产化学品和材料的可持续有机碳来源的问题。虽然最初的重点放在从可食用植物糖生产生物燃料上，但减少作物用于食品和非食品应用之间的竞争的动力促使了大量的研究工作，以获得细胞壁中不易消化的生物质（木质纤维素）。这反过来又促使人们审查使用其他植物衍生代谢物生产化学品的情况，这些化学品横跨高价值特种部门，一直到批量生产所需的平台中间体。生物精炼的相关科学，即所有植物生物质都可以有效地用于获得这些化学品，现在正在世界各地迅速发展。然而，很明显，有机碳在有价值的产品和废物流之间的异质性和分布是次优的。作为替代方案，我们现在提出使用合成生物学方法来“重建”植物原料，以优化非食品应用生物质的加工。确定的有前途的主题包括再造多糖，衍生人工细胞器，植物信号和次生代谢的重编程。
Depletion of oil reserves and the associated effects on climate change have prompted a re-examination of the use of plant biomass as a sustainable source of organic carbon for the large-scale production of chemicals and materials. While initial emphasis has been placed on biofuel production from edible plant sugars, the drive to reduce the competition between crop usage for food and non-food applications has prompted massive research efforts to access the less digestible saccharides in cell walls (lignocellulosics). This in turn has prompted an examination of the use of other plant-derived metabolites for the production of chemicals spanning the high-value speciality sectors through to platform intermediates required for bulk production. The associated science of biorefining, whereby all plant biomass can be used efficiently to derive such chemicals, is now rapidly developing around the world. However, it is clear that the heterogeneity and distribution of organic carbon between valuable products and waste streams are suboptimal. As an alternative, we now propose the use of synthetic biology approaches to 're-construct' plant feedstocks for optimal processing of biomass for non-food applications. Promising themes identified include re-engineering polysaccharides, deriving artificial organelles, and the reprogramming of plant signalling and secondary metabolism.