Enzyme development for Norwegian biomass - mining Norwegian biodiversity for seizing Norwegian opportunities in the bio-based economy

In this project, six research institutes and two companies work together to develop competitive enzyme technology to utilize Norwegian biomass. The goal is to increase value creation in Norwegian bio-based industries. With nature's own tools (here: enzymes) we will create a good bio-economy based on sustainable, environmentally friendly and profitable processes. Such processes include enzymatic conversion of non-edible plant biomass into sugars that can then be fermented into a variety of products, including bioethanol and fodder. Another process is the conversion of protein-rich by-products from e.g. salmon slaughterhouses to high-value hydrolysates. An important task of the project is to find and identify the right enzymes. To do so, the University of Bergen is looking at hot springs on the ocean floor, the University of Tromso is looking for enzymes in the Arctic, while NMBU (Ås) studies microbial communities that break down plant biomass. Some of the project participants have their strength in producing enzymes, and making them more efficient and stable. These include SINTEF, UiT, Uni Research in Bergen and NMBU (WP2 - WP4). We also need to do a lot of enzyme characterization work, where the University of Tromsø contributes with expertise in crystallography. The Centre for Philosophy of Science at the University of Bergen has the responsibility to look at the whole enzymatic process: Are processes environmentally friendly and ethically sound? What about benefit sharing related to what we find in nature? (WP8). The industry partners, Borregaard (forest and plant biomass, WP5) and Biomega (marine biomass, WP6), help to drive the project in a direction that is beneficial for Norwegian industry. Both of these companies want to be key players in a Norwegian bio-economy. In 2014 Norilia (byproducts from meat production), has become associated with the project (WP7) and in 2015 Alkymar (marine raw materials) has become associated with the project (WP7). WP7 is about initiating new activities and since 2015 we have developed links to enzymatic production of sialic acid derivatives (University of Tromsø) and development of enzyme technology for processing seaweed (interaction with the SFIs Foods of Norway, at NMBU). In the first phase of the project, we have collected a lot of biodiversity, including by enrichments of bacterial communities from special ecosystems on the substrates that our industry partners are interested in. Furthermore, we have built up expertise to harvest from this biodiversity, that is, by finding promising enzymes and to develop these for industrial use. We have assessed almost one million genes and, on the basis of the wishes of the industry, around 150 candidate enzymes have been identified for further work. Several of these have passed through the project?s ?enzyme development pipeline? and are being tested and used in applications. We have also worked on further development of enzymes using enzyme engineering technologies. SINTEF plays an important role in this latter endeavor because it has built up a system for mass spectrometry-based screening of enzyme activities. This gives NorZymeD a unique advantage and in the final phase of the project, we have been able to produce novel enzymes with interesting properties. We now have several enzymes with promising properties and several of these have been tested in industrial applications, both «green» and «blue» applications. Recently, we also have made progress in development of more effective bioprocessing strategies, especially for lignocellulose. We have also developed efficient enzymes for processing of seaweed that are now being tested in industrial applications. The project?s annual meetings include a dissemination seminar with participants from industry, universities and government agencies. During the project meetings and annual meetings, ELSA activities (WP8) have received substantial time and attention. The project has worked actively with bioprospecting issues, since there still exist some unresolved and significant issues related to "benefit sharing". Both the Center for Philosophy of Science (by Roger Strand et al.) and Morten Walløe Tvedt at the Fridtjof Nansen Institute are working on ELSA issues. A joint article on benefit sharing, with co-authors from the University of Bergen and NMBU, has been published in 2016.

Vi har: - Kartlagt biodiversitet og jaktet på enzymer - Jobbet med utbedring av industrielle enzymatiske prosesser - Bygget opp kompetanse innen grunnleggende og anvendt enzymologi - Utviklet nasjonale nettverk og nye relasjoner Virkninger: - Nasjonal nettverksbygging - Nasjonal kompetanseplattform - Blå-grønt samarbeid - Oppmerksomhet rundt industriell bioteknologi - Banebrytende ELSA arbeid - Nye bedriftsrelasjoner, inklusive nye prosjekter, og kanskje en SFI fra 2020 - Mange follow-up prosjekter - Prosessforbedringer hos deltagende industri - En stor samling med enzymer - Synlighet i den internasjonale forskningsarenaen - Vitenskapelig framgang og publisering - Innovativt arbeid rundt prosjektoppfølging, formelle prosedyrer rundt prosjektets slutt, samt sikring av framtidig resultatutnyttelse

The basis for a national bio-economy lies in the development of a biorefining industry enabled by enzyme tools that are tailored for Norwegian biomass and business opportunities. This project focuses on developing enzymes and processes for biomasses and v alue chains where Norway has clear competitive advantages, namely lignocellulosics and marine co-products from fisheries and aquaculture. Starting at unique biodiversities of the arctic, hot vents and gut microbiomes, the project will build generic compet ence by establishing a national "enzyme development pipeline". Through national complementarity and distribution of tasks, we will combine expertise on thermophilic enzymes in Bergen and cold-adapted enzymes in Tromsø, with expertise in enzyme engineering and applied enzymology in Ås, fermentation and screening facilities at SINTEF, and structural characterization in Tromsø. We will develop generic technology competence in four work packages, focusing on metagenomic sampling (WP1), screening and character ization of candidate enzymes (WP2,WP3), enzyme engineering (WP4) and larger-scale production for industrial trials (WP2). One innovative aim is to combine the best of cold- and heat-adapted enzymes using bioinformatics, protein engineering and gene shuffl ing-based directed evolution. The project workflow will follow the value creation chain all the way to industrial trials. This is underscored by the involvement of two Norwegian companies with a strong R&D focus, which has made them leaders in lignocellul osic (WP5) and marine co-product biorefining (WP6). By linking enzyme development in two different value chains (blue and green), the project will unleash considerable synergies. Ethical, legal and societal aspects will be pursued in a dedicated work pack age (WP8). Expanding the interest to explore biocatalytic opportunities will be an important task for the management group (WP7,WP9), which will interact strongly with the Industrial Biotech Network Norway.