SBIR Phase I: Lipogenic Strains for Production of Novel Plastic Monomers

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目旨在将现代生物工程能力应用于开发石油衍生塑料的可行替代品。最近的文献报道已经确定了一类基于单体的新型生物塑料--羟基酸(HFAs)。除了各种其他有趣的用途外，该-HFA单体还可以很容易地聚合成独特的生物聚酯塑料家族，其性能类似于聚乙烯，从而克服了其他生物塑料的关键限制。为了使不饱和脂肪酸成为目前生物塑料的可行替代品，必须开发一种基于低成本可再生原料的可扩展生产工艺。这个SBIR项目将在我们最近发表在《美国化学学会杂志》上的工作的基础上，开发一种新的低成本生物发酵工艺，用于大规模生产u-HFA。特别是，我们的工作代表了酵母菌株(在这种情况下是热带假丝酵母)基因工程的第一次展示，允许选择性和高效地将自然产生的脂肪酸油转化为相应的uHFA。该项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力将有助于提高生物塑料在更广泛的商业应用中的可用性。目前生物塑料的市场应用一直受到限制，因为它们的生产成本很高，而且与石油塑料相比，它们的脆性、高渗透性、刚性和低熔点等功能特性不理想。2010年，美国生物塑料的市场规模约为3.5亿美元，目前正以每年17%的速度增长。到目前为止，生物塑料仅限于利基市场，如一次性生物降解消费品，在这些市场，消费者对生物可降解材料的需求可以抵消成本和不希望看到的功能特性。这些应用领域的一些例子包括餐饮用品(陶器、餐具、碗等)。和容器(瓶子、杯子、托盘等)尤其是在健康食品店和餐馆。新的生物塑料，如具有改进特性的不饱和脂肪酸，可能会在每年1060亿美元的聚乙烯市场上实现更多的应用。我们每天依赖的大多数塑料部件都是由不可生物降解的聚乙烯组成的，许多部件可以从可持续、可再生和低成本的资源/原料中受益。此外，可扩展的塑料生物生产的发展有助于减少对石油的依赖，并为生产下一代材料提供一个灵活的平台。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is designed to apply modern bioengineering capabilities to the development of viable alternatives to petroleum-derived plastics. Recent literature reports have identified a novel class of bioplastics based on the monomer, ù-hydroxyfatty acids (ù-HFAs). In addition to a variety of other interesting applications, the ù-HFA monomer can be readily polymerized into a unique family of biopolyester plastics that display properties similar to polyethylene, thus overcoming a key limitation found with other bioplastics. In order for ù-HFAs to become a viable alternative to current bioplastics, a scalable production process based on low-cost renewable feedstocks must be developed. THis SBIR project will develop a novel low-cost biological fermentation process for the large-scale production of ù-HFAs based on work we recently reported in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. In particular, our work represented the first demonstration of the genetic engineering of a yeast strain (in this case, Candida tropicalis) to allow for the selective and efficient enzymatic conversion of naturally-occurring fatty acid oils to their corresponding ù-HFAs. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will help to improve availability of bioplastics for broader commercial applications. Market adoption of current bioplastics has been limited due to their high production costs and their undesirable functional properties such as brittleness, high permeability, rigidity and low melting points relative to petroleum plastics. The U.S. market size for bioplastics in 2010 was approximately $350M and is currently growing at 17% per year. To date, bioplastics have been limited to niche markets such as disposable biodegradable consumer items where cost and undesirable functional properties can be offset by consumer demand for a biodegradable material. A few examples of these application areas include catering items (crockery, cutlery, bowls, etc.) and containers (bottles, cups, trays, etc.) particularly in health food stores and restaurants. New bioplastics such as ù-HFAs with improved characteristics may enable additional applications within the $106B/yr polyethylene market. The majority of plastic components we depend upon every day are comprised of non-biodegradable polyethylene, and many could benefit from being derived from sustainable, renewable and lower cost resources/feedstocks. Further, development of scalable biological production of plastics serves to reduce petroleum dependence as well as providing a flexible platform for production of next-generation materials.