TY - JOUR
T1 - Thermodynamics-based design of microbial cell factories for anaerobic product formation
AU - Cueto-Rojas, Hugo F.
AU - van Maris, A. J.A.
AU - Wahl, S. Aljoscha
AU - Heijnen, J. J.
PY - 2015/9/1
Y1 - 2015/9/1
N2 - The field of metabolic engineering has delivered new microbial cell factories and processes for the production of different compounds including biofuels, (di)carboxylic acids, alcohols, and amino acids. Most of these processes are aerobic, with few exceptions (e.g., alcoholic fermentation), and attention is focused on assembling a high-flux product pathway with a production limit usually set by the oxygen transfer rate. By contrast, anaerobic product synthesis offers significant benefits compared to aerobic systems: higher yields, less heat generation, reduced biomass production, and lower mechanical energy input, which can significantly reduce production costs. Using simple thermodynamic calculations, we demonstrate that many products can theoretically be produced under anaerobic conditions using several conventional and non-conventional substrates.
AB - The field of metabolic engineering has delivered new microbial cell factories and processes for the production of different compounds including biofuels, (di)carboxylic acids, alcohols, and amino acids. Most of these processes are aerobic, with few exceptions (e.g., alcoholic fermentation), and attention is focused on assembling a high-flux product pathway with a production limit usually set by the oxygen transfer rate. By contrast, anaerobic product synthesis offers significant benefits compared to aerobic systems: higher yields, less heat generation, reduced biomass production, and lower mechanical energy input, which can significantly reduce production costs. Using simple thermodynamic calculations, we demonstrate that many products can theoretically be produced under anaerobic conditions using several conventional and non-conventional substrates.
KW - Anaerobic product formation
KW - Bioprocess design
KW - Microbial cell factories
KW - Thermodynamics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84940447039&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.06.010
DO - 10.1016/j.tibtech.2015.06.010
M3 - Review article
C2 - 26232033
SN - 0167-7799
VL - 33
SP - 534
EP - 546
JO - Trends in Biotechnology
JF - Trends in Biotechnology
IS - 9
ER -