Biovalorization of lignin

加拿大拥有世界上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中一直处于持续下降的状态。社会对电子时代的拥抱意味着加拿大人根本不消费纸浆和纸制品，而纸浆和纸制品占加拿大森林产量的三分之一以上，与上一代人的消费程度相同。该行业的另一个主要产品，软木木材，是一个高容量，低价值的产品，利润微薄。即使对加拿大软木木材的需求大幅增加（顺便说一句，事实并非如此），也不太可能为加拿大经济增加更多价值。加拿大林业部门必须实现现代化，如果要恢复失去的荣耀，就必须更加技术密集。计算表明，从传统的伐木作业转向开发和实施新型化学和生物催化工艺来生产药品、生物材料、聚合物和个人护理产品等小批量、高价值产品，不仅会指数化该行业的经济贡献并创造更多、更高薪的就业机会，还能保护加拿大的森林，减少该行业的环境足迹。目前，药品等增值产品的生产约占该部门国内生产总值的1%。目前的提案旨在开发新的生物催化剂和生物工艺，将森林生物质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，但它是一种高度易燃的材料，通常被燃烧作为能源。很少有商业方法可以将木质素转化为有价值的产品，我们不能利用木质素是绿色经济的一个失去的机会。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香族成分。然后，第二类生物催化剂将单芳族组分改性为所需的靶分子。与其他替代方法相比，生物催化工艺更环保，二氧化碳排放量更少，能源效率更高。从长远来看，我们将操纵E.大肠杆菌中表达新的生物催化剂。然后，工程菌株将用于将木质素转化为增值化学品的综合生物工艺。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。总之，拟议的研究不仅将促进货币化的一个无价值的废物流，但也将减少环境足迹和振兴林业部门在加拿大。

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.