Genetic Improvement of Clostridium tyrobutyricum for Butanol Production by Insertion of adhE from Clostridium acetobutylicum
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Date
2010-06
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The Ohio State University
Abstract
Butanol, a common fermentation product, has the potential to be a more economically and environmentally friendly biofuel than ethanol. However, current strains capable of fermenting butanol do not produce it in high enough concentrations for the process to be economically feasible. Clostridium tyrobutyricum does not naturally produce butanol, but it does produce the metabolic precursors to butanol in Clostridium acetobutylicum, the most commonly used butanol-producing strain. The gene adhE, one of two genes coding for the alcohol-aldehyde dehydrogenases that produce butanol from these metabolic precursors in C. acetobutylicum, along with a powerful constitutive promoter were isolated and amplified for insertion into C. tyrobutyricum in order to create a butanol-producing mutant strain. The plasmid transformation protocol is still being optimized, so the final mutant has not yet been created. However, it is reasonable to believe that this mutant, once completed, will be capable of butanol production.
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Keywords
butanol, clostridium tyrobutyricum, adhE, clostridium acetobutylicum, sustainable energy