Elucidating the xylose metabolism pathway in thraustochytrids for the conversion of hemicellulosic waste into omega-3 fatty acids and biofuel.

加拿大广阔的森林和发达的林业工业使其处于独特的地位，可以利用锯木厂残渣中的木质生物质作为生产附加值产品的原料。在与普通酒精发酵类似的过程中，使用专门的微生物提供了将纸浆转化为各种消费和工业化学品的机会。然而，构成生物质很大一部分的木糖或“木糖”不容易被大多数常见微生物消化。一组能够自然利用木糖的微生物是thraustochytrids--一种以死植物为食的海洋原生动物。此外，这类微生物还能够产生大量具有重要营养价值的脂肪，使其成为工业开发的理想目标。Mara Renewables Corporation是一家加拿大大西洋藻类生物产品生产商，目前在其omega-3脂肪酸的商业生产中使用thraustochytrids。然而，在商业规模上使用木质生物质作为主要原料面临着巨大的挑战--天然木糖的消耗相对较慢，只有在其他糖耗尽后才会消耗木糖。通过拟议的项目，Mara Renewables寻求更好地了解Traustochytrids中的木糖新陈代谢，以设计一种能够在工业上相关规模的木糖上生长的细胞系。这项拟议的研究将利用核磁共振来了解细胞是如何分解木糖的，以及产生了什么副产品。然后，这些信息将与基因数据结合起来，开发出一个数学模型，能够预测特定基因工程策略的效果。其目标是开发一种基因工程策略，以实现细胞快速生长和高脂肪产量。其结果将是能够以可持续和具有成本效益的方式利用纸浆和造纸等工业过程中产生的常见废流来生产有价值的消费品。

Canada's vast forests and developed forestry industry place it in a unique position to take advantage of woody biomass from sawmill residue as a feedstock for the production of value-added products. In a similar process to common alcoholic fermentation, the use of specialized microorganisms offers the opportunity to convert pulp into a wide range of consumer and industrial chemicals. However, the xylose or "wood" sugar that makes up a large fraction of this biomass is not readily digestible by most common microorganisms. One group of microorganisms that are capable of naturally utilizing xylose is the thraustochytrids -- marine protists that feed on dead plant matter. Furthermore, this group of microorganisms are also capable of producing large quantities of nutritionally important lipids, making them an ideal target for industrial exploitation. Mara Renewables Corporation is an Atlantic Canadian producer of algal-based bio-products that is currently using thraustochytrids in their commercial production of omega-3 fatty acids. However, there are significant challenges to using woody biomass as a primary feedstock at commercial scales -- natural xylose consumption is relatively slow and xylose is only consumed once other sugars have been exhausted. Through the proposed project, Mara Renewables seeks to better understand xylose metabolism in thraustochytrids to engineer a cell line capable of growing on xylose at industrially relevant scales. The proposed study will make use of nuclear magnetic resonance to understand how the cell breaks down xylose and what byproducts are produced. This information will then be combined with genetic data to develop a mathematical model capable of predicting the effect of specific genetic engineering strategies. The goal is to develop a genetic engineering strategy that will result in rapid cell growth and high lipid yield. The result will be to enable the exploitation of common waste stream from industrial processes such as pulp and paper manufacturing to produce valuable consumer goods in a sustainable and cost-effective manner.