SBIR Phase I: High-yield Fermentation of Sugars to Levulinic Acid

SBIR 第一阶段：糖类高产发酵成乙酰丙酸

• 批准号: 1114078
• 负责人: Alexandre Zanghellini
• 金额: $ 14.99万
• 依托单位: ARZEDA Corp.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2011
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2011-07-01 至 2012-06-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1114078&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; yield; Fermentation; Sugars

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project focuses on the development of a high-yield fermentation route for the production of levulinic acid (LA). LA is one of the best-suited C5 building blocks for bio-refinery production due to higher value, broad applications, and likely quick adoption by the chemical industry. To date, no bioprocess for LA exists, and known chemical processes have not reached commercial stage due to high cost and lower yield. Arzeda, the world leader in computational enzyme engineering, has invented a new biochemical method to convert sugars to LA. The objective of this Phase I project is to demonstrate the feasibility of the concept by validating the proposed biochemical conversion in vitro. Arzeda will use its enzyme engineering platform to design the biocatalyst(s) needed, including computational modeling and design, gene assembly, and enzyme production. The broader/commercial impacts of this research are the advancement of a U.S. ?green? chemistry industry, and strengthening, economically and environmentally, of a sustainable United States bio-refinery industry. The lack of a high-yield alternative to costly thermochemical processes has been preventing a widespread adoption of levulinic acid. Because LA can be converted, chemically or biochemically, to synthetic rubber (through isoprene and butenes), bio-fuels (such as kerosene and HMF), polymers (for instance, nylons) and polymer additives (for changing polymer characteristics), the addressable market is in excess of $20B annually. When considered as the end product, LA trades at a considerable higher price than ethanol, the current product of most commercial bio-refineries, and thus can help diversify their product offering and considerably increase their margins. Application of Arzeda?s proven technology of computational enzyme design to bring to the world a high-yield fermentation route for LA will considerably advance

该小型企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的重点是开发用于生产乙酰丙酸 (LA) 的高产发酵路线。 LA 是最适合生物精炼生产的 C5 构建模块之一，因为它具有更高的价值、广泛的应用以及可能被化学工业快速采用。 迄今为止，尚不存在用于LA的生物工艺，并且已知的化学工艺由于成本高且产量较低而尚未达到商业化阶段。 Arzeda 是计算酶工程领域的世界领先者，发明了一种将糖转化为 LA 的新生化方法。 该第一阶段项目的目标是通过在体外验证所提出的生化转化来证明该概念的可行性。 Arzeda 将利用其酶工程平台来设计所需的生物催化剂，包括计算建模和设计、基因组装和酶生产。 这项研究的更广泛/商业影响是美国“绿色”的进步。化学工业，并在经济和环境上加强美国生物炼制工业的可持续发展。 由于缺乏高产替代品来替代昂贵的热化学工艺，乙酰丙酸的广泛采用一直受到阻碍。 由于 LA 可以通过化学或生物化学方式转化为合成橡胶（通过异戊二烯和丁烯）、生物燃料（例如煤油和 HMF）、聚合物（例如尼龙）和聚合物添加剂（用于改变聚合物特性），因此每年的潜在市场超过 $20B。 当被视为最终产品时，洛杉矶的交易价格比大多数商业生物炼油厂目前的产品乙醇要高得多，因此可以帮助其产品供应多样化并大幅提高利润。 应用 Arzeda 成熟的计算酶设计技术为世界带来洛杉矶的高产发酵路线将大大推进