Production of High-Value Antibiotics by Using Paper- and Plant-Based Waste Products.

Cellulosic materials are commonly used in the production of biofuels and other commodity chemicals. Here, we employ a cellulolytic bacterium to produce high-value antibiotics using paper and plant waste materials as primary feedstocks. is an intracellular symbiont of shipworms, marine bivalves of the family Teredinidae, where it contributes cellulases and other carbohydrate-active enzymes that help animals digest wood. is also a prolific producer of antibiotic drug leads proposed to be integral to shipworm ecology. In the presence of waste cellulose as the sole carbon source, robustly produced potent antiparasitic and antibiotic agents. This suggests an inexpensive strategy to harness mixed waste materials for the synthesis of high-value compounds, such as pharmaceuticals.