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。该行业还直接雇佣了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不再像上一代人那样消费占加拿大森林产量三分之一以上的纸浆和纸制品。该行业的另一个主要产品，软木材，是一种大批量，低价值的产品，利润微薄。即使对加拿大软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。如果加拿大林业部门要恢复其失去的辉煌，就必须使其现代化，并在技术上更加密集。计算表明，从传统的伐木作业过渡到开发和实施新的化学和生物催化工艺，以生产小批量、高价值的产品，如药品、生物材料、聚合物和个人护理产品，不仅可以提高该行业的经济贡献，创造更多、更高收入的工作，还可以保护加拿大的森林，减少该行业的环境足迹。药品等增值产品的生产目前约占该行业GDP的1%。目前的提案旨在开发新的生物催化剂和生物过程，将木质素（森林生物质的主要成分）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，通常用于燃烧获取能量。很少有商业过程可以将木质素转化为有价值的产品，我们无法利用木质素是失去了绿色经济的机会。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成分。第二类生物催化剂将修饰单芳族成分，使其成为所需的目标分子。生物催化过程更环保，排放更少的二氧化碳，比其他替代方法更节能。从长远来看，我们将操纵大肠杆菌的代谢网络来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过程。我们还将与现有的工业合作伙伴密切合作，将我们的创新成果转化为市场。总之，拟议的研究不仅将促进顽固性和迄今为止毫无价值的废物流的货币化，而且还将减少环境足迹并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.