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Metabolic engineering strategies for lactic acid production from cellulosic biomass through consolidated bioprocessing

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Tuesday, 5. March 2019 12:30

Announcement of a seminar with

 

Roberto Mazzoli

 
5. March 2019 – 12:30 – SER 12 (MUG III)

 

Metabolic engineering strategies for lactic acid production from cellulosic biomass through consolidated bioprocessing

 

Proteomics and Metabolic Engineering of Prokaryotes (PMEP), Dept. of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Torino, Italy

Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA.

 

Lactic acid (LA) is among the most requested chemicals because of its several applications in food (e.g. acidifier and flavour-enhancing agent), cosmetic (emulsifying and moisturing agent) and pharmaceutical (intermediate) industries and as building block for the synthesis of biodegradable plastic polymers (e.g. polylactides, PLAs). Most LA is produced through fermentation of dedicated crops (mainly corn). As the global demand for LA is rapidly increasing (16.2 % annual growth) such a process represents a threat for these food crops. Development of alternative fermentation processes based on 2nd generation (i.e. lignocellulosic) feedstocks appears therefore as a priority.

Lignocellulose has ideal characteristics for application as feedstock in biorefinery since it’s very abundant, cheap and renewable. However, lignocellulose is very recalcitrant to biodegradation and its bioconversion currently requires expensive multi-step processes which cannot compete with traditional technologies. Metabolic engineering can be used to develop microbial strains able to catalyze single-pot fermentation, i.e. consolidated bioprocessing, of plant biomass to industrially relevant products thus enabling cost-sustainable 2nd generation biorefinery. Different approaches allowing construction of recombinant microorganisms for direct convertion of lignocellulose to LA will be illustrated highlighting the state-of the-art of these studies and their main challenges. The focus will mainly concern the construction of recombinant cellulolytic lactic acid bacteria, and the improvement of LA production in Clostridium thermocellum, i.e. a native cellulolytic bacterium.

 

Roberto Mazzoli has completed his PhD in 2003 and, since 2011, has been assistant professor in biochemistry at the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin (Italy). Since 1998, he has been studying the metabolism of bacteria aimed at industrial processes, e.g. bioremediation of aromatic hydrocarbons, food fermentation and production of nutraceuticals, and biomass biorefinery. Since 2006, his main research activity has concerned metabolic engineering of bacteria for cellulosic consolidated biorefinery. He is the PI of the group of Proteomics and Metabolic Engineering of Prokaryotes at the Department of Life Sciences and Systems Biology, University of Turin (Italy). He has published 32 papers in peer-reviewed international journals, 1 book chapter and 2 international patents.

Location : SER 12 (MUG III)
Contact : Seminar Boku Biotechnology

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