SBIR Phase I: Engineering process traits in biomass for lignin degradation to improve ethanol production

SBIR 第一阶段：对生物质中的木质素降解过程特性进行工程设计，以提高乙醇产量

• 批准号: 0712065
• 负责人: Humberto De La Vega
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: Agrivida, Inc.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2007
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2007-07-01 至 2008-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0712065&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Engineering; process; traits

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I research investigates the feasibility of engineering biomass with processing traits for ethanol production. Biomass will be transformed to produce lignin-degrading enzymes, modified with a biological switch to remain inactive during crop growth. After harvest, the enzymes can be inducibly activated from within the lignin structure to enable more effective degradation, allowing for significant cost advantages over current ethanol production. Cellulosic biomass is an attractive feedstock for biofuels. However, the conversion process requires severe operating conditions and expensive enzymes, leading to prohibitive costs. Embedded enzymes will enable effective processing without the stringent materials requirements, allowing for lower-cost ethanol production. The biological switch will prevent the disruption of normal crop development. The research objectives for Phase I are to create a library of the enzymes and screen their expression and characteristics in corn. The results will be applied to the Phase II goal of producing a corn plant with switch-modified lignocellulosic degrading enzymes for ethanol production from the entire corn plant.This research will have a significant impact the U.S. ethanol industry which has a market size of $10 billion and is growing rapidly by reducing the costs of production. Currently, corn grain accounts for over 70% of production costs, and recently higher prices for grain have lowered margins. Enabling the conversion of the whole corn plant into ethanol will provide for a more plentiful feedstock at a lower cost. The utilization of this feedstock would contribute to rural development, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and reduced U.S. dependence on foreign petroleum.

这项小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段研究调查了具有乙醇生产加工特性的工程生物质的可行性。生物质将被转化为木质素降解酶，用生物开关修饰，在作物生长期间保持不活动。收获后，酶可以从木质素结构内被诱导激活，以实现更有效的降解，从而相对于目前的乙醇生产具有显著的成本优势。 纤维素生物质是一种有吸引力的生物燃料原料。 然而，该转化方法需要苛刻的操作条件和昂贵的酶，导致成本过高。 嵌入式酶将使有效的处理没有严格的材料要求，允许低成本的乙醇生产。 生物开关将防止正常作物发育的中断。第一阶段的研究目标是建立一个酶库，并筛选它们在玉米中的表达和特性。 研究结果将应用于第二阶段的目标，即用开关修饰的木质纤维素降解酶生产玉米植株，用于从整个玉米植株生产乙醇。这项研究将对美国乙醇行业产生重大影响，该行业的市场规模为100亿美元，并通过降低生产成本迅速增长。 目前，玉米占生产成本的70%以上，最近粮食价格上涨降低了利润率。 使整个玉米植物转化为乙醇将以更低的成本提供更丰富的原料。 利用这种原料将有助于农村发展，减少温室气体排放，并减少美国对外国石油的依赖。