SBIR Phase I: Production Pathways of Biopolymers for Barrier Paper Coatings

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响是开发新的可持续包装材料。聚羟基烷酸酯(PHA)是一类重要的材料。从碳源生产PHA通常与高昂的成本有关，因此无法广泛采用。然而，天然气和沼气是具有成本效益的替代品，现有的产生PHA的微生物只使用甲烷中约一半的碳，其余的以二氧化碳的形式释放。该项目将制定协议，利用新发现的微生物高效生产PHA。新发现的微生物平台将能够以高碳转化率有效利用沼气，从而实现高效率和(接近)零排放的PHA生产。生产的PHA将被配制成可回收、可堆肥和可海洋生物降解的食品服务包装的阻隔纸涂料。拟议的项目将验证和开发利用新发现的微生物进行沼气高产转化的生物途径。目前的PHA生产与基于化石的聚合物相比仍然没有竞争力，原因是相对较高的原材料成本和较低的聚合物产量，以及现有的微生物平台，只利用来自甲烷的一部分碳，其余作为二氧化碳排放。PHA生产成本的突破需要高效的碳转化。感兴趣的微生物已经表现出提高了碳转化率，高聚合物产量，以及(接近)零排放生产的前景。该项目的目标是阐明和优化新发现的培养物的培养参数，并通过构建合成生物学框架在生物体中建立新的PHA共聚途径(S)。该项目还将开发发酵方案，以优化生产商业PHA共聚物的产量，以便进一步扩大规模。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to develop new sustainable packaging materials. An important class of materials is polyhydroxyalkonoates (PHA). Production of PHA from carbon sources has generally been associated with high costs, precluding widespread adoption. Natural gas and biogas are cost-effective alternatives, however, and established PHA-producing microbes use only about half the carbon from methane, releasing the rest as carbon dioxide. This project will develop protocols to use newly discovered microbes for efficient PHA production. The newly discovered microbial platform would enable efficient utilization of biogas with high carbon conversion, allowing high efficiency and (near) zero emission PHA production. The produced PHA will be formulated into barrier paper coatings for food service packaging that is recyclable, compostable, and marine-biodegradable. The proposed project will validate and develop the biological pathways for high-yield conversion of biogas using newly discovered microbes. Current PHA production remains noncompetitive to fossil-based polymers due to relatively high raw materials cost and low polymer yield with established microbial platforms, utilizing only a portion of the carbon from methane and emitting the rest as carbon dioxide. Breakthroughs in PHA production cost require high-efficiency carbon conversion. The microbes of interest have demonstrated improved carbon conversion, high polymer yield, and the promise for a (near) zero emission production. The goals of the project are to elucidate and optimize the cultivation parameters of the newly discovered cultures and build novel PHA copolymer pathways in the organisms by constructing synthetic biology framework(s). The project will also develop fermentation protocols that optimize yield for producing commercial PHA copolymers for further scaling.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.