Lubieniechi Simona, Peranantham Thinesh, Levin David B
Department Bioresource Policy, Business and Economics, 51 Campus Drive, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, S7N 5A8, Canada.
Recent Pat DNA Gene Seq. 2013 Apr 1;7(1):25-35. doi: 10.2174/1872215611307010005.
Development of sustainable energy systems based on renewable biomass feedstocks is now a global effort. Lignocellulosic biomass contains polymers of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin, bound together in a complex structure. Liquid biofuels, such as ethanol, can be made from biomass via fermentation of sugars derived from the cellulose and hemicellulose within lignocellulosic materials, but pre-treatment of the biomass to release sugars for microbial conversion is a significant barrier to commercial success of lignocellulosic biofuel production. Strategies to reduce the energy and cost inputs required for biomass pre-treatment include genetic modification of plant materials to reduce lignin content. Significant efforts are also underway to create recombinant microorganisms capable of converting sugars derived from lignocellulosic biomass to a variety of biofuels. An alternative strategy to reduce the costs of cellulosic biofuel production is the use of cellulolytic microorganisms capable of direct microbial conversion of ligno-cellulosic biomass to fuels. This paper reviews recent patents on genetic modification of plants and microbes for biomass conversion to biofuels.
基于可再生生物质原料开发可持续能源系统现已成为一项全球性努力。木质纤维素生物质包含纤维素、半纤维素和木质素的聚合物，它们以复杂的结构结合在一起。液体生物燃料，如乙醇，可以通过发酵木质纤维素材料中纤维素和半纤维素衍生的糖从生物质中制取，但生物质预处理以释放糖用于微生物转化是木质纤维素生物燃料生产商业成功的一个重大障碍。降低生物质预处理所需能源和成本投入的策略包括对植物材料进行基因改造以降低木质素含量。人们也在大力致力于创造能够将木质纤维素生物质衍生的糖转化为各种生物燃料的重组微生物。降低纤维素生物燃料生产成本的另一种策略是使用能够将木质纤维素生物质直接微生物转化为燃料的纤维素分解微生物。本文综述了近期关于植物和微生物基因改造以将生物质转化为生物燃料的专利。
