Genetic Analysis and Metabolic Engineering of Anaerobic Butyric-Acid Clostridia

提出的研究目标是产生关于厌氧丁酸梭菌分子遗传学和酶学的新知识，这将允许有益的细胞代谢遗传改变（代谢工程）用于各种应用。丁酸梭菌在生产商品和特种化学品方面具有良好的工业应用潜力。目前关于梭状芽孢杆菌细胞的分子遗传学、细胞调控和代谢工程的知识基础非常狭窄，但由于本提案的主要研究者目前的努力而不断扩大。拟议的研究包括构建具有改变酶途径的各种细胞，并在间歇、连续和细胞循环生物反应器中对这些细胞进行测试，以研究这些细胞的稳定性和重组酶在产物形成中的有效性。

The objectives of the proposed research are to produce new knowledge on the molecular genetics and enzymology of anaerobic butryic-acid clostridia that will allow beneficial genetic alterations of cell metabolism (metabolic engineering) for a variety of applications. Butryic-acid clostridia have an excellent potential for industrial applications to produce commodity and specialty chemicals. The current knowledge base on the molecular genetics, cell regulation and metabolic engineering of clostridia cells is very narrow, but expanding as a result of current efforts by the Principal Investigators of this proposal. Proposed studies include construction of a variety of cells with altered enzymatic pathways and testing of these cells in batch, continuous and cell-recycle bioreactors to study the stability of these cells and the effectiveness of the recombinant enzymes in product formation.