Genetic enhancement of cellulose production by Cosenzeae myxofaciens

粘梭菌是一种与其他变形杆菌属物种（如奇异变形杆菌）密切相关的细菌。粘梭菌是一种具有工业重要性的菌株，主要是因为其能够在短时间内产生大量纤维素。这种细菌产生的纤维素比从植物来源获得的纤维素纯度更高，后者需要进一步处理以去除半纤维素和木质素。此外，对植物纤维素需求的增加最终将导致森林砍伐和其他环境问题。细菌纤维素的生产克服了这些问题，因为细菌可以使用简单的碳源大量生长，包括各种类型的工业废物和其他副产品。细菌纤维素目前用于电子、食品和生物医学工业。传统上，细菌纤维素是由一种需要氧气才能生长的细菌--木葡糖酸新醋酸杆菌产生的。粘梭菌最近被发现是生产纤维素的更好的候选者，因为这种细菌可以在有氧和无氧的情况下生长，使其更适合在大规模工业发酵罐中生长。该提案的目的是开发分子遗传学工具来操纵这种生物体，以更好地了解其对纤维素生物合成的调节，最终目标是开发安全，稳定，纤维素过量生产的工业应用菌株。

Cosenzae myxofaciens is a bacterium strongly related to other Proteus species, such as P.mirabilis.C.myxofaciens is a strain of industrial importance, mostly for its ability to produce large quantities of cellulosein a short time period. The cellulose produced by this bacterium is of higher purity than that obtained fromplant sources, which requires further treatments to remove hemicellulose and lignin. In addition, increaseddemand for plant-based cellulose will ultimately lead to deforestation and other environmental concerns. Theproduction of bacterial cellulose overcomes these problems, as bacteria can be grown in large quantities usingsimple carbon sources, including various types of industrial wastes and other by-products. Bacterial celluloseis currently used by the electronic, food and biomedical industries. Traditionally, bacterial cellulose has beenproduced by Gluconeoacetobacter xylinus, a bacteria which requires oxygen to grow. C.myxofaciens has beenrecently revealed to be a better candidate for cellulose production, as this bacteria can grow in both thepresence and absence of oxygen, making it more suitable for growth in large-scale industrial fermentors. Theaim of this proposal is to develop molecular genetics tools to manipulate this organism to better understand itsregulation of cellulose biosynthesis, with the ultimate goal of developing safe, stable, cellulose-overproducingstrains for industrial applications.