Manipulating microalgal-to-microbial carbon transfer for sustainable bioenergy and bioproducts

微生物作为化学物质和代谢物的来源具有巨大的潜力，可用于工业应用，如生产高价值化学品、食品或生物燃料。许多种类的细菌和酵母在通过发酵生产生物燃料方面非常有效，并且非常适合基因工程，但它们依赖于有机碳基质的供应，从而降低了这些生物中化学物质的可持续性和潜在的碳中性。相比之下，像微藻这样的光合生物可以利用免费的二氧化碳和阳光，但目前作为可行的工业生物技术平台菌株存在局限性。该项目旨在将微藻的特性和潜力与某些细菌和酵母菌株的已证实的生物技术特性结合起来，推动化学品和生物燃料的碳中和生产。我们将评估利用从微藻中提取的糖来维持酿酒酵母菌和乙酰丁酸梭菌等菌株的培养和发酵。一组实验将研究微藻生物量的分解以释放用于发酵的糖，并将筛选最佳的微藻糖化和酵母发酵条件。第二种实验方法将对真核微藻模型莱茵衣藻进行基因工程改造，使其允许糖外排。计算模型将用于优化自养微藻和异养酵母或细菌的培养和代谢条件，使用先前开发的方法。目标将是开发一个综合系统，利用微藻的光合特性为微生物提供碳，以推动工业化学生产。此外，微生物生物质将被评估为“生物精炼厂”，以评估副产品的额外应用，从而充分利用培养的生物质。该项目将提供各种实验技术和学科的培训，包括分子生物学、基因工程和代谢建模。

Microorganisms have significant potential as sources of chemicals and metabolites to be used for industrial applications such as the production of high-value chemicals, food products or biofuels. Many species of bacteria and yeast are very efficient at producing biofuels via fermentation and are extremely amenable to genetic engineering but are dependent on the supply of organic carbon substrates, thus reducing the sustainability and potential carbon neutrality of chemicals from these organisms. In contrast, photosynthetic organisms such as microalgae can make use of freely available carbon dioxide and sunlight, but currently have limitations as viable industrial biotechnology platform strains. This project aims to combine the properties and potential of microalgae with the proven biotechnological characteristics of certain bacterial and yeast strains to drive towards the carbon neutral production of chemicals and biofuels. We will evaluate the utilisation of sugars derived from microalgae to sustain cultivation and fermentation of strains such Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Clostridium acetobutylicum. One set of experiments will investigate the breakdown of microalgal biomass to release sugars for use for fermentation and will screen for optimal microalgal saccharification and yeast fermentation conditions. A second experimental approach will genetically engineer the model eukaryotic microalga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii to allow sugar efflux. Computational modelling will be used to optimise the cultivation and metabolic conditions of the autotrophic microalga and the heterotrophic yeast or bacterium, using previously developed approaches. The goal will be to develop a combined system that will harness the photosynthetic properties of the microalga to provide carbon to microorganisms to drive industrial chemical production. Furthermore, the microorganism biomass will be evaluated as a 'biorefinery' in order to evaluate by-products for additional applications and so to make full use of the cultivated biomass. The project will provide training in a variety of experimental techniques and disciplines including molecular biology, genetic engineering, and metabolic modelling.