The significance of chemical markers in the bioprocessing of fossil fuels

Biochemical conversion of crude oils is a multi-step process proceeding through a series of biochemical reactions. These reactions can be characterized by a set of chemical markers which are associated with the chemical composition of crude oils. Reactions with heavy crude oils indicate that there is an overall decrease in the concentration and chemical speciation of organic sulfur compounds, and a redistribution of hydrocarbons and organometallic species. The contents of trace metals in the crude oils, such as nickel and vanadium, also decrease. Further, heavy ends of crudes, containing the asphaltenes and the polar nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen containing fractions, as well as the organometallic compounds and complexes, are biochemically converted to lower molecular weight chemical species. In the studies reported in this paper, microorganisms used to mediate such reactions were thermophilic ( > 60°C) and pressure tolerant (up to 2500 psi). These organisms are also capable of biochemical conversion of bituminous and lignite coals in an analogous manner to their action on crude oils and follow similar trends characterized by chemical markers. For example, X-ray absorption near-edge structural (XANES) analyses of biotreated crude oils and low grade coals show that biochemical reactions lead to decreases in organic sulfides and thiophenes with a concurrent increase in sulfoxide contents. Chemically related constituents present in heavy crude oil fractions and low grade coals are the asphaltenes. Asphaltenes are complex structures containing heteroatoms and metals involved in inter- and intra-molecular bridges and stereochemical configurations. The chemical markers associated with the biochemical conversion of oils and coals indicate multiple biochemical processes involving chemical reactions at sites containing heteroatoms and metals leading to a breakdown of the structure(s) to smaller molecular weight units. Thus, using chemical markers as diagnostic tools, the extent and the efficiency of fossil fuel bioconversion may be predicted and monitored, allowing for better cost-efficient field trials. Recent results in this area will be presented and discussed in this paper.     

核苷酸生产技术现状及展望

核苷酸的生产方法主要有化学合成法、RNA酶解法、微生物发酵法以及生物催化法。探讨了这些方法的原理和发展及其在工业化生产中的优劣势。化学合成法的路线长、立体选择性差,所用试剂昂贵并有一定毒性,生产成本较高;酶解法能一次得到4种核苷酸的混合物且收率较高,是目前我国核苷酸工业生产所用的主要技术,但其后提取难度大,产品纯度不高;微生物发酵法难以解决细胞通透性的问题;生物催化法是发酵法的延伸,菌体培养和酶催化反应分两步进行,有效地解决了细胞通透性问题,并可以通过偶联不同的基因工程菌株生产多种复杂核苷酸、核苷糖乃至寡聚糖,这在核苷酸工业、医药及糖化学、糖生物学合成工业中是极其重要的一个环节。     

酵母多基因表达载体在纤维素生物转化中应用

构建含酿酒酵母组成型强启动子PGK、G418抗性基因及rDNA片段的整合型载体pScIKP,利用rDNA多个同源重组位点,将外源基因以多拷贝整合到酵母染色体上,无需诱导即可持续表达;利用载体位于表达盒两端同尾酶,可插入多个基因表达盒,实现多基因稳定共表达.为检验共表达情况,反转录从绿色木霉中获得纤维素酶基因eg3和cbh2, 克隆并转化获得重组酵母菌株S.cerevisiae-ec. 该重组酵母能降解羧甲基纤维素形成水解圈;用羧甲基纤维素还原糖法和滤纸酶活力法测定酶活力,其最适温度和最适pH值与所表达单酶相似,表明共表达未影响两种酶的生物学特性;且双酶具有协同作用,能更有效降解非结晶纤维素.pScIKP载体能成功用于多个外源基因共表达和产物协同作用的研究,为构建能直接降解纤维素的酿酒酵母菌株,实现纤维素可再生能源的生物利用奠定了基础.     

Value‐added bioconversion of biomass by solid‐state fermentation

The value‐added bioconversion of biomass is necessary due to the depletion of fossil fuels and deterioration of the global environment situation. Based on the analysis of characteristics of solid materials and the applicability of solid agro‐industrial residues used as feedstock for solid‐state fermentation (SSF), the authors established a value‐added bioconversion system for biomass using the key technology SSF. This article gives an overview of biomass bioconversion by SSF and the corresponding advances achieved in recent years. Copyright © 2012 Society of Chemical Industry     

Optimization of fermentation condition for co-production of ethanol and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from hemicellolosic hydrolysates by Klebsiella oxytoca XF7

Microbial production of ethanol and 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BD) from agro-residues has been attracting interest because of their applications in various industries, including generation of biofuel molecules. In the present investigation, the hemicellulosic fraction of corncob was hydrolyzed by indigenous holocellulase from novel psychrotolerant Aspergillus niger SH3 resulting in high xylose release (34.61?g?L^?1), followed by the bioconversion of xylose to ethanol and 2,3-BD. Taguchi design was adopted to optimize the process which resulted in 5.25- and 3.31-fold increase in 2,3-BD (12.18?±?0.53?g?L^?1) and ethanol (4.08?±?0.03?g?L^?1), as compared with un-optimized condition. For the first time, co-production of ethanol and 2,3-BD from the corncob hemicellulosic hydrolysate was performed using a newly isolated Klebsiella oxytoca XF7 strain, under the optimized fermentation conditions. These results suggest that K. oxytoca XF7 is a promising candidate for co-production of ethanol and 2,3-BD, with high xylose conversion efficiency (96.65%), facilitating the economical production of biofuel molecules.