Work

Application of metabolic controls for the maximization of lipid production in semicontinuous fermentation

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Significance This work establishes a semicontinuous process for efficient and complete upgrading of low-strength acetic acid into lipids. By implementing control strategies in response to the time-varying nature of cell metabolism, we achieved and sustained lipid yields close to the theoretical maximum while maintaining high productivities. The control algorithm was designed to respond to readily available real-time measurements and basic principles, which is ideal for industrial applications. Overall, our process scheme can directly take in dilute nutrient streams that are difficult and costly to purify and is able to biologically convert them into highly concentrated value-added products. This design significantly reduces the energy costs associated with processes using dilute feedstocks, which typically require initial concentration of the feed.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1703321114

Authors: Jingyang Xu, Nian Liu, Kangjian Qiao, Sebastian Vogg, Gregory Stephanopoulos

Institutions: Zhejiang Police College, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Language: English

Topic: Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction

Subfield: Molecular Biology

Field: Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

Domain: Life Sciences

SDG: Responsible consumption and production

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: U.S. Department of Energy, China Scholarship Council