APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:
- Biofuel/chemical production from lignocellulosic feedstocks
ADVANTAGES:
- Reduces capital costs at a lignocellulosic biorefinery
- Efficient low-carbon emission
ABSTRACT:
Efficient conversion of lignocellulose requires the utilization of all its primary components (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), yet no microbe in commercial use today can achieve this feat. To that end, Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) researchers engineered Rhodosporidium toruloides to produce two non-native terpenes with biofuel (bisabolene) and pharmaceutical (amorphadiene) applications from a mixture of depolymerized cellulose (glucose), hemicellulose (xylose), and lignin (p-coumaric acid).
JBEI’s work establishes R. toruloides as a new platform for the simultaneous conversion of depolymerized cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin into biofuels and bioproducts, facilitating more economically feasible lignocellulosic biorefineries.
DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Junko Yaegashi, James Kirby, Masakazu Ito, Jian Sun, Tanmoy Dutta, Mona Mirsiaghi, Eric R. Sundstrom, Alberto Rodriguez, Edward Baidoo, Deepti Tanjore, Todd Pray, Kenneth Sale, Seema Singh, Jay D. Keasling, Blake A. Simmons, Steven W. Singer, Jon K. Magnuson, Adam P. Arkin, Jeffrey M. Skerker and John M. Gladden (2017). Rhodosporidium toruloides: a new platform organism for conversion of lignocellulose into terpene biofuels and bioproducts. Biotechnol Biofuels, 10, 241. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0927-5
STATUS: Published PCT Patent Application US2017/067737 (Publication WO/2018/119152). Available for licensing or collaborative research.
SEE THESE OTHER BERKELEY LAB TECHNOLOGIES IN THIS FIELD:
Converting Monomeric, Oligomeric, and Polymeric Lignin into Ionic Liquids 2015-055
Renewable Chemicals Produced from Lignin EIO-3265