Team:Groningen/Design

iGem Groningen 2018

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In the process of designing the route from cellulose to StyGreen, there are many factors to consider. There are several approaches that can be taken to degrade cellulose, metabolic pathways to styrene as well as different interesting sources of cellulose. Discussions with many experts have aided us in making the right choices or adjustments during the design process. Furthermore, we connected with the upstream and downstream processes of our design and approached different stakeholders, connecting our project to cellulose suppliers and styrene buyers.

The production of StyGreen from cellulose is a multi-step pathway. As such, we have the choice of using either one or multiple organisms to perform the different reactions. For example, we could engineer a cellulose degrading organism and a styrene producing organism; these organisms can be co-cultured to produce styrene from cellulose. However, after discussing this idea with experts, we concluded that creation of a single organism performing both steps would be the most efficient and industrially desirable choice. In this manner, we produce a consolidated bioprocessing system which is not currently available. The combined process saves substrate, raw materials and utilities such as separate cellulase enzyme production. Moreover, the complete process could take place in one reactor and, in case of higher overall efficiency, this results in a reduced reactor volume and thus lower capital investment [A]. Hence, our ultimate goal is the production of a single robust cell factory that can grow on cellulose and produce styrene effectively in an industrial bioreactor setting.

Besides ‘wet lab’ experiments, we also modelled parts of our system in the 'dry lab' with help from experts to substantiate or improve our design. Want to know more details about our design? Click on the questions below to find out!

  • Design

    Click on the icons in the timeline, and find out about all the insights we gained from our stakeholders and how the dialogues shaped our project.

References

[1] Lynd, L. R., Zyl, W. H. van, McBride, J. E., & Laser, M. (2005). Consolidated bioprocessing of cellulosic biomass: an update. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 16(5), 577–583. http://doi.org/10.1016/J.COPBIO.2005.08.009

[2] Domozych, D. S., Ciancia, M., Fangel, J. U., Mikkelsen, M. D., Ulvskov, P., & Willats, W. G. (2012). The Cell Walls of Green Algae: A Journey through Evolution and Diversity. Frontiers in Plant Science, 3. doi:10.3389/fpls.2012.00082

<[3] Roostaei, J., Zhang, Y., Gopalakrishnan, K., & Ochocki, A. J. (2018). Mixotrophic Microalgae Biofilm: A Novel Algae Cultivation Strategy for Improved Productivity and Cost-efficiency of Biofuel Feedstock Production. Scientific Reports, 8(1). doi:10.1038/s41598-018-31016-1

[4] Algae Biofuel Market Estimates & Trend Analysis By Application (Transportation, Others), By Region (North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Rest of World), By Country, And Segment Forecasts, 2018 - 2025. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/algae-biofuel-market

[5] Mandels, M., Hontz, L., Nystrom, J.: Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Waste Cellulose. Biotechnology And Bioengineering 16, 1471-1493 (1974)

[6] Da Silva, A., Inoue, H., Endo, T., Yano, S., Bon, E.P.S.: Milling and pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse and straw for enzymatic hydrolysis and ethanol fermentation. Bioresource Technology 101, 7402-7409 (2010)

[7] Tianjiao Qu et al.: Ball Milling for Biomass Fractionation and Pretreatment with Aqueous Hydroxide Solutions. ACS Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering 5, 7733-7742 (2017)

[8] Percival Zhang, Y. H., Cui, J., Lynd, L. R. and Kuang, L. R. A transition from Cellulose Swelling to Cellulose Dissolution by o-Phosphoric Acid: Evidence from Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Supramolecular Structure. Biomacromolecules, 7, 644-648 (2006)

[9] Wen, F., Sun, J., & Zhao, H. (2010). Yeast surface display of trifunctional minicellulosomes for simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulose to ethanol. Applied and Environmental Microbiology, 76(4), 1251–60. http://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01687-09

[10] McKenna, R., Thompson, B., Pugh, S., & Nielsen, D. R. (2014). Rational and combinatorial approaches to engineering styrene production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microbial Cell Factories, 13(1), 123. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-014-0123-2

[11] McKenna, R., & Nielsen, D. R. (2011). Styrene biosynthesis from glucose by engineered E. coli. Metabolic Engineering, 13(5), 544–554. http://doi.org/10.1016/J.YMBEN.2011.06.005

[12] van Leeuwen, J., Andrews, B., Boone, C., & Tan, G. (2015). Rapid and Efficient Plasmid Construction by Homologous Recombination in Yeast. Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, 2015(9), pdb.prot085100. http://doi.org/10.1101/pdb.prot085100

[13] Stovicek, V., Holkenbrink, C., & Borodina, I. (2017). CRISPR/Cas system for yeast genome engineering: Advances and applications. FEMS Yeast Research, 17(5). doi:10.1093/femsyr/fox030

[14] West, R. W., Chen, S. M., Putz, H., Butler, G., & Banerjee, M. (1987). GAL1-GAL10 divergent promoter region of Saccharomyces cerevisiae contains negative control elements in addition to functionally separate and possibly overlapping upstream activating sequences. Genes & Development, 1(10), 1118-1131. doi:10.1101/gad.1.10.1118

[15] Peng, B., Williams, T. C., Henry, M., Nielsen, L. K., & Vickers, C. E. (2015). Controlling heterologous gene expression in yeast cell factories on different carbon substrates and across the diauxic shift: A comparison of yeast promoter activities. Microbial Cell Factories, 14(1). doi:10.1186/s12934-015-0278-5

[16] Liu, C., Men, X., Chen, H., Li, M., Ding, Z., Chen, G., … Xian, M. (2018). A systematic optimization of styrene biosynthesis in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3). Biotechnol Biofuels, 11, 14. http://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1017-z

[17] Dragosits, M., & Mattanovich, D. (2013). Adaptive laboratory evolution – principles and applications for biotechnology. Microbial Cell Factories, 12, 64. doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-12-64

[18] Ferrari, A. R., Gaber, Y., & Fraaije, M. W. (2014). A fast, sensitive and easy colorimetric assay for chitinase and cellulase activity detection. Biotechnology for Biofuels, 7(1), 37. http://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-7-37

[19] Kemmere, M. F., Mayer, M. J., Meuldijk, J. and Drinkenburg, A. A. (1999), The influence of 4‐tert‐butylcatechol on the emulsion polymerization of styrene. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 71: 2419-2422. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1097-4628(19990404)71:14<2419::AID-APP14>3.0.CO;2-W