Monday, August 2, 2010: 1:00 PM
Seacliff AB (Hyatt Regency San Francisco)
The Department of Energy (DOE) has identified four-carbon dicarboxylic acids as chemicals that can be produced from renewable resources and which have the potential to replace a significant portion of the current petrochemical market. These acids can be used directly as polymerization monomers or undergo chemical alterations. One chemical derivative is maleic anhydride, which had a global consumption of 1,500 k MT worldwide in 2006. Fumaric acid is the configurational trans-isomer of maleic acid and can readily be converted to maleic anhydride thermochemically.
MBI has developed a fungal fermentation for the production of fumaric acid, which produces a soluble fumarate salt. It facilitates fermentation control and allows the removal of insoluble materials and cells as a first step in product recovery. In contrast to other 4-carbon dicarboxylic acids, fumaric acid has a very low solubility, and can easily be recovered.
The current process produces fumaric acid with an observed yield of 0.6 g fumaric / g glucose, and other by-products are currently made. We plan to perform steady-state metabolic flux analysis (MFA) and flux balance analysis (FBA) to obtain and validate flux maps of the organism, in order to identify targets for improvements in a rational manner. The results are expected to identify optimal carbon flow patterns for the maximal production of fumaric acid and to target limiting steps for genetic alteration to increase product formation rates and yields.
MBI has developed a fungal fermentation for the production of fumaric acid, which produces a soluble fumarate salt. It facilitates fermentation control and allows the removal of insoluble materials and cells as a first step in product recovery. In contrast to other 4-carbon dicarboxylic acids, fumaric acid has a very low solubility, and can easily be recovered.
The current process produces fumaric acid with an observed yield of 0.6 g fumaric / g glucose, and other by-products are currently made. We plan to perform steady-state metabolic flux analysis (MFA) and flux balance analysis (FBA) to obtain and validate flux maps of the organism, in order to identify targets for improvements in a rational manner. The results are expected to identify optimal carbon flow patterns for the maximal production of fumaric acid and to target limiting steps for genetic alteration to increase product formation rates and yields.
See more of: Metabolic engineering - Biochemicals from renewable resources
See more of: Invited Oral Papers
See more of: Invited Oral Papers