SBIR Phase I: Improvement of the Biofuel Fermentation Process by the Phage-mediated Reduction of Contaminating Lactic Acid Bacteria

这个小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目将用于优化生物燃料的生产。生物燃料乙醇的发酵经常受到竞争乳酸菌(LAB)生长的干扰。LAB竞争原料，产生不需要的酸，并抑制发酵。目前，实验室选择的控制方法是应用抗生素。噬菌体生物控制公司建议开发一种全新的替代疗法，用于控制生物燃料发酵行业中的实验室，其基础是溶菌噬菌体的配方。噬菌体是天然的、无害的、普遍存在的溶菌剂，可以在发酵食品中找到。这个项目的重点是开发噬菌体作为一种处理方法，以控制生物燃料生产过程中的实验室污染。这项研究的更广泛的商业影响是提高生物燃料生产的效率和利润，同时消除抗生素的工业使用。最显著的商业影响将是减少由LAB导致的代价高昂的发酵失败事件，从而提高乙醇产量和利润。可以说，更广泛的社会影响甚至更显著。首先，噬菌体处理有可能增加生物燃料的产量，这是随着化石燃料水平降低而实现的一个必要目标。其次，虽然人们普遍认为应该减少广泛的非医用抗生素的使用，但抗生素是目前可用的最有效的控制措施。噬菌体制剂在非医疗应用中具有取代抗生素的真正潜力。因此，噬菌体控制实验室在燃料乙醇发酵行业中的创新应用将产生积极的经济和社会影响。

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will be used to optimize biofuel production. The fermentation of biofuel ethanol is frequently disrupted by the growth of competing lactic acid bacteria (LAB). LAB compete for the feedstock, produce undesirable acids and inhibit fermentation. Currently, the LAB control method of choice is to apply antibiotics. Phage Biocontrol is proposing to develop an entirely new, alternative treatment for controlling LAB in the biofuel fermentation industry, based on formulations of bacteriolytic phage. Phage are natural, harmless, ubiquitous bacteriolytic agents that can be found in fermented foods. This project is focused on developing phage as a treatment to control LAB contamination during production of bio-fuels.The broader/commercial impacts of this research are to increase efficiency and profitability of biofuel production while eliminating the industrial use of antibiotics. The most significant commercial impact will be to decrease costly fermentation failure events caused by LAB, thus increasing both ethanol yields and profits. The broader societal impacts are arguably even more significant. First, phage treatment has the potential to increase biofuel yields, a necessary goal as fossil fuel levels diminish. Second, while there is a general agreement that widespread, non-medical antibiotic use should be curtailed, antibiotics are currently the most effective control measure available. Phage formulations have real potential to replace antibiotics for non-medical applications. Thus, the innovative application of phage to control LAB in the fuel ethanol fermentation industry will lead to positive economic and societal impacts.