Inhibition of methanogenesis

描述：(申请者提供)本项目的目标是开发一种 反刍动物体内甲烷形成的新抑制物。目前，莫能菌素， 一种相对非特异性的抗生素，在畜牧业中被广泛使用。 莫能菌素通过减少甲烷和 增加丙酸的产生；然而，它也抑制乙酰化，这是 对动物来说是一个有益的过程。我们将针对一种特定的生物合成 催化产甲烷微生物生存的关键步骤的酶， 它们是古生物界的成员，但不存在于真核生物或 细菌。一种特定的甲烷生成抑制剂将具有以下好处 莫能菌素在提高生产力方面没有有害的影响 抗菌药物的使用。它应该有很大的市场价值。最直接的 预计将用于饲养场的牛、猪和羊。这样一种抑制物 也可以用来减少人类胃肠道的甲烷产量。自.以来 家畜是全球最大的甲烷来源，抑制了 反刍动物的产甲烷作用有可能减轻 温室效应。我们的计划是合成和表征血管紧张素转换酶抑制剂 在10%的浓度下阻止产甲烷的生物合成酶 微摩尔或更低。 建议的商业应用： 我们计划开发一种甲烷生成抑制剂，以取代广泛用于饲养场牛的莫能菌素。如果只考虑在饲养场的牛身上使用抑制剂，估计可以获得17亿美元的收入。目前，仅在美国使用莫能菌素(Rumensin)的成本就为3.83亿美元。

DESCRIPTION:(provided by applicant) The goal of this project is to develop a novel inhibitor of methane formation in ruminant animals. Currently, monensin, a relatively nonspecific antibiotic, is widely used in the livestock industry. Monensin increases agricultural productivity by decreasing methane and increasing propionate production; however, it also inhibits acetogenesis, which is a beneficial process for the animal. We will target a specific biosynthetic enzyme that catalyzes an essential step for survival of methanogenic microbes, which are members of the kingdom Archaea, yet is not present in eukaryotes or bacteria. A specific methanogenesis inhibitor would have the benefits of monensin on increased productivity without the detrimental effect of antiobiotic use. It should have significant market value. The immediate projected use would be on feedlot cattle, pigs, and sheep. Such an inhibitor could also be used to decrease methane production in the human Gl tract. Since domesticated livestock is the largest global source of methane, inhibiting methanogenesis by ruminant animals has the potential of mitigating the greenhouse effect. Our plan is to synthesize and characterize inhibitors of the biosynthetic enzyme that arrest methanogenesis at a concentration of 10 micromolar or lower. PROPOSED COMMERCIAL APPLICATION: We plan to develop an inhibitor of methanogenesis that would replace monensin, which is widely used on feedlot cattle. If one considers the use of an inhibitor only on feedlot cattle, an estimate about $1.7 billion dollars can be made. Currently, the cost of monensin (rumensin) use in the US alone is $383 million.