Engineering solventogenic clostridia for commercial production of bio-chemicals

Abstract

The manufacture of bio-chemicals through the use of microbial fermentation and renewable feedstock has a number of well-known advantages linked to sustainability and reduced impacts on the environment. Markets for molecules produced with greener credentials are growing as consumers become more aware of what is in the formulated products they use every day. The use of solventogenic clostridia has now been re-commercialised for the production of bio-acetone and bio-n-butanol. The different impurity profiles of these bio-based molecules compared with petro-versions results in performance advantages in downstream derivatisation chemistry, giving an added benefit alongside sustainability advantages. Advances in genome editing now enable us to take the benefits observed with clostridial fermentation and apply them to the production of the next generation of bio-molecules.