The proposal will develop a new biological route for efficient production of advanced ?drop-in? hydrocarbon fuels from renewable resources, by integrating enzyme, metabolic pathway and cellular engineering. Today ethanol and biodiesel are the only biofuels produced and utilized at a large scale. However, each has severe drawbacks due to incompatibility with current infrastructures and/or very limited supply of suitable feedstocks. Therefore, there is both a pressing need and increasing scope for developing a new generation of biofuels.
Target of this project is to produce short- and medium-chain alkanes and alkenes (C8-C20) derived from fatty acids, which can be used as direct substitute of petroleum based fuels. To enable the production of these advanced biofuels using recombinant E. coli strains, the PI will investigate and optimize hydrocarbon-producing enzymes, fatty acid biosynthetic pathways, and whole-cell machinery, via (1) Mechanistic studies and engineering of key enzymes in two hydrocarbon-producing pathways, (2) Metabolic pathway engineering for increasing fatty acids as hydrocarbon precursors, and (3) Pathway integration and cellular engineering for hydrocarbon production from cellulosic biomass.
The successful completion of this project will lead to several potentially transformative outcomes. First, this project will develop an innovative strategy across multiple scales for creating efficient whole-cell biocatalysts. Second, the PIs will generate E. coli strains capable of producing high-grade hydrocarbon biofuels from renewable resources. Third, the PIs will advance fundamental understanding of mechanisms of hydrocarbon-producing enzymes, regulation of fatty acids synthesis, and whole-cell metabolism. The genome engineering and ultrahigh-throughput screening approach represents a major innovation in microbial engineering and its variation/extension can be employed for improving a wide variety of complex phenotypes. More generally, the scientific knowledge generated through these activities will prove valuable for other bio-engineering applications.
The scientific findings resulted from this project will make significant contributions to the ultimate development of cost-effective and sustainable production of hydrocarbon biofuels, which helps solve one of the most pressing challenges currently faced by our society. The education and outreach activities will focus on fostering academic and professional development of involved graduate student and postdoc, supporting undergraduate research, and promoting underrepresented groups. Expanding previous and ongoing activities, the PIs also plan to engage middle/high school students in summer research within a team setting with undergraduates.
