CAREER: Design and Construction of a Synthetic Fungus-Bacterium Consortium for Efficient Cellulosic Biofuel Production

智能优点整合生物处理(CBP)寻求将生产生物衍生产品的几个不同生物功能结合到一个系统中，以降低工艺复杂性。当CBP应用于木质纤维生物质转化为生物燃料时，纤维素酶的生产、纤维素酶的降解和己糖/戊糖的发酵被整合到一个生物反应器中。拟议研究的总体目标是设计一个合成真菌-细菌联合体，用于从可再生的木质纤维原料中生产先进的生物燃料异丁醇。该联盟的设计灵感来自于自然界中无处不在的协同微生物群落。总体战略是构建和优化由纤维素降解菌和产生生物燃料的细菌组成的微生物联合体，用于生产纤维素生物燃料。具体地说，拟议的研究计划将1)开发适合联盟运营的专门细菌和真菌菌株；2)设计和实施联盟监管的遗传电路；以及3)提高联盟成员的异丁醇耐受性。拟议的研究有可能产生新的微生物工程战略，最显著的是创建强大的合成联合体和用于表型改进的基因组工程。这些工程化微生物联合体在广泛的应用中可能是有价值的。这项拟议的研究还旨在促进对微生物新陈代谢和生理学的基本了解，特别强调酒精毒性。布罗德影响拟议的教育和推广计划侧重于工科本科生和从K-12到研究生水平的女性学生。将开发一门新的跨学科合成生物学本科课程，并将在国际基因工程机器(IGEM)竞赛的背景下，为基于团队的可持续设计提供顶峰活动。外展活动旨在扩大女性在科学和工程学科中的参与，并将通过本科生和研究生层面的WISE(女性参与科学和工程)计划以及密歇根大学的K-12夏令营计划进行协调。

PI: Xiaoxia LinProposal Number: 1055227Intellectual MeritConsolidated bioprocessing (CBP)seeks to combine several distinct biological functions for production of biologically-derived products into one system in order to reduce process complexity. When CBP is applied to lignocellulosic biomass conversion to biofuels, cellulase production, cellulose hydrolysis, and hexose/pentose sugar fermentation are consolidated into a single bioreactor. The overall goal of the proposed research is to engineer a synthetic fungus-bacterium consortium for production of isobutanol, an advanced biofuel, from renewable lignocellulosic feedstocks. The consortium design is inspired by the ubiquitous synergistic microbial communities found in Nature. The overall strategy is to construct and optimize a microbial consortium consisting of a cellulose-degrading fungus and biofuel-producing bacteria for cellulosic biofuel production. Specifically, the proposed research plan will 1) Develop specialized bacterium and fungus strains suitable for consortium operation; 2) Devise and implement genetic circuits for consortium regulation; and 3) Enhance isobutanol tolerance of consortium members. The proposed research has the potential to generate new microbial engineering strategies, most notably the creation of robust synthetic consortia and genome engineering for phenotypic improvement. These engineered microbial consortia can be valuable for a broad range of applications. The proposed research is also designed to advance basic understanding of microbial metabolism and physiology with specific emphasis on alcohol toxicity.Broader ImpactsThe proposed education and outreach plan focuses on undergraduate students in engineering and female students from the K-12 to graduate level. A new cross- disciplinary undergraduate course in synthetic biology for will be developed, and will feature capstone activity for team-based sustainable design in the context of the international Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition. Outreach activities are designed to broaden the participation of women in science and engineering disciplines, and will be coordinated through the WISE (Women in Science and Engineering) program at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and through K-12 summer camp programs at the University of Michigan.