BioMax: Oxidoreductases for hemicellulose upgrading to bio-derived cross-linkers

新兴的生物经济体价值数千亿美元，被视为为靠近可再生生物资源的农村社区创造新就业机会的机会。然而，可再生生物资源产生的产品不一定更绿色，可持续的生物经济需要生物资源转化和应用的效率。BioMax项目的总体使命是创造突破性的生物技术，可持续地将生物质残渣升级为高价值产品，为加拿大生物精炼厂创造新的经济机会。具体目标是建立碳水化合物氧化还原酶，用于将未充分利用的半纤维素转化为与可持续纺织品制造相关的交联分子。在接下来的两年里，由计算科学家、生物化学家、生物工艺工程师和材料科学家组成的项目团队将提供：1）20种新的酶设计，预测其对多种半纤维素显示出改进的活性，2）用于靶向氧化还原酶的成本有效生产的改进的工业宿主，和3）将未充分利用的半纤维素有效地转化为跨-链接纤维素纤维。通过建立提升半纤维素和推进可持续纺织制造的生物技术，该项目支持项目合作伙伴的三个关键目标：1）将新的酶技术整合到加拿大森林生物精炼厂中，2）通过对占生物质原料约25%的未充分利用的半纤维素进行估值，最大限度地提高生物资源的有效利用率，3）扩大可持续纺织品制造中溶解纸浆米尔斯的机会。

Emerging bio-based economies are valued in the hundreds of billion dollars and are seen as an opportunity for creating new jobs for rural communities close to renewable bioresources. However, products generated from renewable bioresources are not necessarily greener, and sustainable bio-based economies require efficiency of bioresource conversion and application. The overall mission of the BioMax project is to create breakthrough biotechnologies that sustainably upgrade biomass residuals to high-value products, creating new economic opportunities for Canadian biorefineries. The specific goal is to establish carbohydrate oxidoreductases for the conversion of underused hemicelluloses to cross-linking molecules, relevant to sustainable textile manufacturing. Over the next two-years, the project team of computational scientists, biochemists, bioprocess engineers and material scientists will deliver: 1) 20 new enzyme designs predicted to display improved activity towards diverse hemicelluloses, 2) improved industrial hosts for cost-effective production of the targeted oxidoreductases, and 3) enzyme systems that efficiently transform underused hemicelluloses to molecules that cross-link cellulosic fibre.By establishing biotechnologies that upgrade hemicelluloses and advance sustainable textile manufacturing, this project supports three key aims of the project partner: 1) integrate new enzyme technologies into Canadian forest biorefineries, 2) maximize the efficient use of bioresources by valorising underused hemicelluloses that make up ~25% of biomass feedstocks, and 3) expand opportunities for dissolving pulp mills in sustainable textile manufacturing.