Engineering Synthetic Methylotrophy to Generate Liquid Fuels and Desirable Chemicals

Thisinvention utilizes a model organism, Escherichia coli, and incorporatesgenes that synthetically allows the organism to utilize methanol and carbondioxide to produce acetyl-coA, which can then be used to generate liquid fuelsor other desirable chemicals. By virtue ofsuch modifications, the model organism Escherichia coli turns intoa synthetic methylotroph, which can utilize methanol and carbon dioxide forgrowth and production of chemicals. Methylotrophic bacteria are organisms ableto utilize one-carbon molecules such as methanol or methane as their solecarbon energy source for growth. The functionof this invention is to enable the methylotrophic E. coli (and possiblyother bacteria) to produce formaldehyde, which is then converted to pyruvateand acetyl-coA through a series of enzymatic reactions. The acetyl-coA can thenbe used to generate useful chemicals and fuels. This invention is a novelapproach since it is a cost-efficient method for biofuel production withminimal carbon dioxide formation.

United States

Patent Pending

USA