Developing biocatalysts to valorize lignin

开发生物催化剂来提高木质素的价值

• 批准号: 506595-2017
• 负责人: Eltis, Lindsay
• 金额: $ 20.2万
• 依托单位: University of British Columbia
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Strategic Projects - Group
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=650154
• 关键词: Developing; biocatalysts; valorize; lignin

The Canadian forest products industry must undergo a paradigm shift to remain competitive, due to competition from abroad and the plummeting demand for traditional products. Meanwhile, there is burgeoning demand for environmentally-sustainable bioproducts. Next generation lignocellulosic biorefineries producing renewable fuels, commodity and feedstock chemicals, and biomaterials will drive the requisite shift. This shift will require that lignin, comprising 15-30% of woody biomass, be converted to higher value products. Our project will develop biocatalysts for the deconstruction and conversion of lignin into bioproducts. Such "biocatalysts" can unlock the enormous economic potential of Canada's forest biomass, usher in production of new value-added products, and substantially reduce the industry's ecological footprint. We aim to develop two types of biocatalysts: (a) enzymes that depolymerize lignin; and (b) bacteria that transform lignin depolymerization products to high-value products. These objectives will be achieved using cutting-edge methods pioneered in our laboratories. Lignin depolymerization activities will be mined using metagenomic and activity-based screens of microbial communities that naturally decompose biomass. Degradation pathways for lignin depolymerization products in bacteria will be discovered using genomic approaches. The genes encoding relevant enzymes and pathways will constitute a toolkit to develop biocatalysts and processes that valorize lignocellulosic biomass. With this toolkit, we will engineer bacteria to upgrade lignin-derived streams to commodity chemicals, such as wax esters and muconate. We will collaborate with our industrial partners to identify appropriate bioproducts, to integrate our biocatalysts in engineered systems under development, and to commercialize the resulting technologies. Our partners include FPInnovations, Fibria, Catalyst Paper, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and AB Enzymes. These organizations are developing technologies to improve the biorefining of biomass and are poised to take up novel lignin-transforming biocatalysts.

加拿大森林产品行业必须进行范式转变，以保持竞争性，这是由于来自国外的竞争以及对传统产品的需求暴跌。同时，人们对环境可持续的生物产品的需求正在迅速发展。下一代木质纤维素生物精制生产可再生燃料，商品和原料化学物质以及生物材料将推动必要的转变。这种转变将要求木质素占木本生物量的15-30％的木质素，转化为更高的价值产物。我们的项目将开发生物催化剂，以解构木质素和转化为生物产品。这种“生物催化剂”可以释放加拿大森林生物量的巨大经济潜力，迎来了新的增值产品的生产，并大大减少了该行业的生态足迹。我们旨在开发两种类型的生物催化剂：（a）将木质素解聚的酶； （b）将木质素解聚产品转化为高价值产物的细菌。这些目标将使用我们实验室中的先进方法实现。木质素解聚活性将使用自然分解生物量的微生物群落的元基因组和基于活性的筛选进行开采。细菌中木质素解聚产物的降解途径将使用基因组方法发现。编码相关酶和途径的基因将构成一种工具包，以开发出量化木质纤维素生物量的生物催化剂和过程。借助此工具包，我们将设计细菌，以将木质素衍生的流升级为蜡酯和粘液酸盐等商品化学物质。我们将与我们的工业合作伙伴合作，以确定适当的生物产品，将我们的生物催化剂整合到正在开发的工程系统中，并将其商业化。我们的合作伙伴包括Fpinnovations，纤维，催化剂纸，国家可再生能源实验室（NREL）和AB酶。这些组织正在开发改善生物量生物量的技术，并准备好使用新型的木质素转化生物催化剂。