SBIR Phase II: Isobutanol biocatalyst - Engineering pathway enzymes for higher isobutanol productivity.

第一阶段SBIR研究的智力价值是使用分子技术开发用于异丁醇商业生产的生物催化剂。 在该提议的第I阶段期间，工程化了以合理的高速率产生异丁醇并达到高浓度的细菌微生物，这表明用于生产异丁醇的生物技术方法是可行的。 在II期研究期间，将使用分子技术去除对生物催化剂生产率的任何限制，从而产生以允许异丁醇的经济上有竞争力的生产的速率生产异丁醇的微生物。第二阶段SBIR研究的更广泛影响将是为运输燃料市场和化学品市场生产可再生的异丁醇。 高级醇，如丁醇和异丁醇，可以从与乙醇相同的生物质生产，由于其较高的能量含量和低吸湿性，是有吸引力的第二代生物燃料。 第二阶段工作的成功完成将有助于实现异丁醇的生物技术生产工艺，该工艺在石化市场上具有经济竞争力。这不仅提供了更好的第二代生物燃料，还减少了对进口石油的依赖，降低了温室气体排放，并扩大了生物基产品在化学品市场的使用。

The intellectual merit of this Phase I SBIR research is the development of a biocatalyst for the commercial production of isobutanol using molecular techniques. During Phase I of this proposal, a bacterial microorganism was engineered that produced isobutanol at reasonably high rates and reaching high concentration, indicating that a biotechnological process for the production of isobutanol is feasible. During Phase II research, any limitation to biocatalyst productivity will be removed using molecular techniques resulting in a microorganism that produces isobutanol at a rate that allows for economically competitive production of isobutanol. The broader impacts of this Phase II SBIR research will be reneweable isobutanol produced for both the transportation fuel market as well as the chemical market. Higher alcohols, such as butanol and isobutanol that can be produced from the same biomass as ethanol are attractive second-generation biofuels due to their higher energy content and their low hygroscopicity. Successful completion of the Phase II work will help enable a process for the biotechnological production of isobutanol that is economically competitive with the petrochemical market. This not only delivers a better second-generation biofuel but also reduces the dependence on imported oil, lowers greenhouse gas emissions and expands the use of biobased products in the chemicals market.