**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT WILL COMBINE SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, SYSTEMS BIOLOGY, AND CHEMICAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF STRAIN DEVELOPMENT METHODS USING MEDIUM-CHAIN FATTY ALCOHOLS AS A MODEL PRODUCT. FATTY ALCOHOLS ARE HIGH-VALUE OLEOCHEMICALS AND MODEL COMPOUNDS FOR THE PRODUCTION OF DIESEL FUELS. IN PRELIMINARY WORK, WE HAVE DEVELOPED A FIRST GENERATION STRAIN THAT CAN ACHIEVE ~50% OF THE THEORETICAL YIELD FROM GLUCOSE MINIMAL MEDIA. IN ORDER FOR THIS PROCESS TO BE ECONOMICALLY COMPETITIVE, YIELDS MUST APPROACH THEORETICAL LIMITS AND FEEDSTOCK COSTS MUST BE REDUCED. THEREFORE, IN THIS PROJECT, WE WILL COMPARE DIRECTED AND UNDIRECTED APPROACHES TO IMPROVING THE YIELD OF PRODUCTS IN A MODEL HOST (ESCHERICHIA COLI) AND TRANSFER THE OPTIMAL PATHWAY TO A NON-MODEL HOST (LACTOBACILLUS CASEI) THAT IS ADVANTAGEOUS FOR FERMENTATIONS BASED ON LIGNOCELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCKS. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP A MICROBIAL CATALYST FOR PRODUCING MEDIUM CHAIN FATTY ALCOHOLS WITH HIGH YIELD FROM LOW COST FEEDSTOCKS. THIS GOAL WILL BE MET BY 1.) OPTIMIZING FLUX THROUGH A Β-REDUCTION PATHWAY FOR MAKING FATTY ALCOHOLS VIA FERMENTATION, 2.) IDENTIFYING BOTTLENECKS WITH FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS STUDIES, AND 3.) PROCESS ENGINEERING TO BENCHMARK STRAINS USING SYSTEMS THAT CAN ACCURATELY PROJECT SCALE-UP. THE PROJECT ALIGNS WELL WITH THE STATED PRIORITIES OF THE AGRICULTURE SYSTEMS AND TECHNOLOGY - BIOPROCESSING AND BIOENGINEERING PROGRAM AREA. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT FOCUSES ON IMPROVING THE CONVERSION EFFICIENCY OF MICROBIAL BIOCATALYSTS FOR IMPORTANT BIOPRODUCTS AND POTENTIAL BIOFUELS. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH EFFORTS WILL DEVELOP STRAINS FOR CONSUMING LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS THAT INCLUDES AGRICULTURAL WASTES AND FOREST RESIDUES.

University Of Wisconsin System, Madison WI

Investigators