本期Nature Communications上報告了利用工程酵母來加強生物燃料生產(chǎn)的一個方法,。通過代謝工程,，酶能夠?qū)⒈纫郧案嗟睦w維素生物質(zhì)（從木材,、草本和不可食用的植物材料生成）轉(zhuǎn)化成乙醇。
不可食用的纖維素生物質(zhì)向生物燃料的微生物轉(zhuǎn)化目前有若干局限性,。生物質(zhì)大部分是木糖,，微生物要代謝的是它們；而其他成分在代謝過程中會導(dǎo)致乙酸的形成,。這對微生物是有毒的,，因此會進一步降低轉(zhuǎn)化率。Yong-Su Jin及同事證明,，他們的工程酵母對木糖和乙酸都能代謝,，從而能夠利用更多的生物質(zhì)以及提高轉(zhuǎn)化率和產(chǎn)量（生物谷Bioon.com）。
生物谷推薦的英文摘要
Nature Communications DOI:10.1038/ncomms3580
Enhanced biofuel production through coupled acetic acid and xylose consumption by engineered yeast
Na Wei,，Josh Quarterman,，Soo Rin Kim，Jamie H.D. Cate& Yong-Su Jin
The anticipation for substituting conventional fossil fuels with cellulosic biofuels is growing in the face of increasing demand for energy and rising concerns of greenhouse gas emissions. However,， commercial production of cellulosic biofuel has been hampered by inefficient fermentation of xylose and the toxicity of acetic acid,， which constitute substantial portions of cellulosic biomass. Here we use a redox balancing strategy to enable efficient xylose fermentation and simultaneous in situ detoxification of cellulosic feedstocks. By combining a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH)-consuming acetate consumption pathway and an NADH-producing xylose utilization pathway,， engineered yeast converts cellulosic sugars and toxic levels of acetate together into ethanol under anaerobic conditions. The results demonstrate a breakthrough in making efficient use of carbon compounds in cellulosic biomass and present an innovative strategy for metabolic engineering whereby an undesirable redox state can be exploited to drive desirable metabolic reactions， even improving productivity and yield.
