PROSPECTS FOR ALGAE ARI PATRINOS SYNTHETIC GENOMICS INC.
Role of Metabolic Engineering in Industrial Biotechnology Targeted manipulation of metabolic pathways Products from metabolic engineering – Ethanol – 1,3-Propanediol – Polyhydroxyalkanoates – Organic acids – Vitamins – Amino acids – Nutritional oils Improved bioprocess economics – Product yield (g/g) – Product concentration (g/L) – Productivity (g/L/h)
Microalgae Microalgae have exceptionally high oil productivity and growth rates compared to terrestrial plants • Key issues – Cost vs plant biodiesel feedstock – Low photosynthetic efficiency – Limited genetic tools • Opportunities – Improve photosynthetic efficiency using novel photoreceptors – Increase oil content to reduce cost – Tailor fatty acid composition for biodiesel
Algae and CO 2 Capture Sunlight Seawater CO 2 • In order to grow, algae use sunlight, water and CO 2 in the process of photosynthesis • 1 kg of algae can capture ~2 kg of CO 2 As algae can grow at rates of 30 g/m 2 /day or • more, 1 km 2 of algae could capture 30,000 MT of CO 2 per year Algae
Carbon Partitioning in Algae CO 2 Triose Phosphate Protein Lipids Carbohydrates
Carbon Partitioning in Algae CO 2 Triose Phosphate Protein Lipids Carbohydrates
CO 2 → Biofuels & Biochemicals CO 2 + Lipids Methyl Esters Hydrocarbons Hydrogen Alcohols
Limitations of Conventional Metabolic Engineering • Flux control distributed over the entire pathway – Amplification of any one gene does not increase pathway flux • Enzymes from different sources show wide variation in kinetic properties • In-vitro kinetics may not predict in-vivo behavior of a complex pathway – Rational selection of best pathway genes difficult
How can we manipulate carbon partitioning? • Culture conditions – Species selection – Nutrient supply – Growth module design • Genetic modification – Classical mutagenesis – Metabolic engineering • Synthetic genomics – Utilize new genome information – Introduce entire pathways – Test multiple gene configurations – Eliminate side reactions
Synthetic Chromosomes Optimize Production Cutting-edge technology that enables the design and construction of synthetic chromosomes that optimize production Overlapping fragments assembled by Overlapping fragments assembled by homologous recombination homologous recombination Anneal overlapping Anneal overlapping synthetic oligonucleotides synthetic oligonucleotides Synthetic Synthetic Synthetic Synthetic Chromosome Chromosome Chromosome Chromosome Chromosome Chromosome DNA fragments DNA fragments Transplantation Transplantation
The Potential of Synthetic Genomics From reading to writing the genome code …and synthesizing cells that make useful products T A Completely assembled Synthetic Chromosome C G DNA Synthesizer Sunlight Pharmaceuticals Plant Biomass Bio-Energy Substitutes for CO 2 Petrochemicals
Synthetic Biocatalyst Challenge London Taxicab Formula 1 Racecar a ka. Nature’s Best aka. Synthetic Cell Top Speed < 60 mph Top Speed > 200 mph Durability ~ 350,000 miles Durability < 800 miles Goal: 350,000 miles
A New Generation of Designer Cells Designing food and fuels based on Carbon Dioxide as the source of carbon Sunlight Food Synthetic CO 2 Fuels Cells Plastics Chemicals
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