Biovalorization of lignin

加拿大拥有世界12%的森林，林业部门每年为我们的经济贡献约250亿美元。该行业还直接雇用了20多万加拿大人。尽管这些数字很大，但加拿大林业部门在过去几年里一直处于持续下降的状态。社会对电子时代的接受意味着加拿大人不再像上一代人那样消费纸浆和纸制品，这些产品占加拿大森林产量的三分之一以上。该行业的另一个主要产品，软木木材，是一种产量大、价值低的产品，利润率很低。即使对加拿大软木木材的需求大幅增加(顺便说一句，情况并非如此)，也不太可能为加拿大经济增加更多价值。加拿大林业部门如果要重获失去的辉煌，就必须实现自身的现代化，并在技术上更加密集。计算表明，放弃传统的伐木作业，转而开发和实施新的化学和生物催化工艺，以生产低产量、高价值的产品，如药品、生物材料、聚合物和个人护理产品，不仅将使该部门的经济贡献成倍增加，创造更多、更高收入的就业机会，而且还将保护加拿大的森林，减少该部门的环境足迹。药品等附加值产品的生产目前约占该行业GDP的1%。目前的提案寻求开发新的生物催化剂和生物工艺，将森林生物量的主要成分木质素转化为药物和香料成分。木质素占森林生物量的三分之一，但它是一种高度顽固的材料，通常被燃烧以获取能源。很少有商业过程可以将木质素转化为有价值的产品，而我们无法利用木质素是绿色经济失去的机会。我们将开发的第一个生物催化剂家族将选择性地将木质素降解为其单芳烃成分。然后，第二类生物催化剂将单芳烃组分修饰成所需的目标分子。与其他替代方法相比，生物催化过程更环保，排放的二氧化碳更少，能源效率更高。从长远来看，我们将操纵大肠杆菌的代谢网络来表达新型生物催化剂。然后，这些工程菌株将被用于将木质素转化为增值化学品的整合生物过程中。我们还将与现有的行业合作伙伴密切合作，将我们的创新转化为市场。总而言之，拟议的研究不仅将促进顽固和迄今毫无价值的废物流的货币化，而且还将减少对环境的影响，振兴加拿大的林业部门。

Canada is home to 12% of the world's forests and the forestry sector contributes roughly $25 billion to our economy each year. This industry also directly employs over 200,000 Canadians. Large as these numbers are, though, the Canadian forestry sector has been in a state of sustained decline over the past few years. Society's embracement of the electronics age has meant that Canadians simply do not consume pulp and paper products, which comprise over a third of the output of Canadian forest, to the same extent as they did a generation earlier. The sector's other major offering, softwood lumber, is a high-volume, low-value product with thin margins. Even if demand for Canadian softwood lumber were to increase substantially which, incidentally, is not the case it is unlikely to add more value to the Canadian economy. It is imperative that the Canadian forestry sector modernize itself and become more technologically intensive if it is to regain its lost glory. Calculations suggest that transitioning away from traditional lumbering operations and instead developing and implementing novel chemical and biocatalytic processes to produce low-volume, high-value products such as pharmaceuticals, biomaterials, polymers and personal care products would not only exponentiate the economic contribution of the sector and generate more, higher paying jobs, but also preserve Canada's forests and reduce the environmental footprint of the sector. The production of value-added products such as pharmaceuticals currently comprises about 1% of the sector's GDP. The current proposal seeks to develop novel biocatalysts and bioprocesses to convert lignin, a major constituent of forest biomass, into pharmaceuticals and spice ingredients. Lignin makes up a third of forest biomass but is a highly recalcitrant material that is typically burned for energy. There are very few commercial processes that can convert lignin into valuable products and our inability to utilize lignin is a lost opportunity for the green economy. The first family of biocatalysts that we will develop will selectively degrade lignin to its monoaromatic constituents. The second family of biocatalysts will then modify the monoaromatic constituents to desired target molecules. Biocatalytic processes are greener, emit lesser carbon dioxide and are more energy efficient than other alternatives. In the long term, we will manipulate the metabolic network of the bacterium E. coli to express the novel biocatalysts. The engineered strains will then be employed in consolidated bioprocesses that convert lignin into value-added chemicals. We will also work closely with our existing industrial collaborators to translate our innovations to the market. In summary, the proposed research will not only facilitate monetization of a recalcitrant and hitherto worthless waste stream, but will also reduce the environmental footprint and revitalize the forestry sector in Canada.