Rational Engineering of Advanced Clostridia for Transformational Improvements in Fermentation

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Production of n-butanol from fermentation of sugar using Clostridia has tremendous industrial potential (n-butanol is an important chemical intermediate for paints plastics, coatings and polymers). Butanol production via fermentation is sustainable, envir onmentally friendly and offers a lower cost route than synthetic production from oil. However, the conventional fermentation route using Clostridia suffers from low titres and volumetric productivities and reliance on expensive (and edible) starch-based f eedstocks. Commercial implementation requires novel strains with improved fermentation performance and strains capable of fermenting non-food, cellulosic feedstocks. Our aim is to develop advanced Clostridia strains. Specific deliverables include:- 1) ide ntification and characterisation of alleles (genes) yielding desired tolerance traits, using genomic approaches, 2) transfer of the identified alleles into current, robust production strains, together with rational metabolic engineering to improve product titres; 3) assessment of strain(s) performance on cellulosic feedstocks at lab and pilot scale. Significant project IP will be created during all stages of the project. The project will deliver advanced Clostridia strains that offer a transformational c hange to fermentation performance and process economics (projected butanol cost reductions of 300 $/T and a 50% reduction in CAPEX). The strains will exhibit:- 1) enhanced growth rates and tolerance to deviations in commercial process conditions; 2) incre ased tolerance to cellulosic feedstock inhibitors, and; 3) improved tolerance to the end product (butanol). The commercial outputs of will be exploited by Green Biologics Ltd. (GBL) and Weyland, who bridge the commercial supply chain from feedstock to but anol production. They will develop a design brief for an integrated fermentation plant with a cellulosic feedstock and determine production cost together with energy and carbon balances over the complete lifecycle.