This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project aims to produce microbes capable of cost-effective production of amino acids used as animal feed supplements. Technical research herein will test the feasibility of applying cutting edge synthetic biology and metabolic engineering techniques to develop engineered strains capable of sustainable and cost-effective production of purified animal feed supplements.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is to provide a reliable, sustainable and safe source of animal feed supplements using biotechnology. Many plant-based animals feeds, such as those based on maize, are deficient in key nutrients needed for growth. To improve feed efficiency and animal growth rates, these deficiencies have been historically overcome with supplementation with animal waste or protein-rich plant products including soy. Recent BSE (Mad Cow Disease) outbreaks combined with dioxine toxicity (from supplementation with fish products) however, have discouraged the use of animal products. Further, supplementation with soy supplies excess, unnecessary amino acids that the animals excrete as nitrogen-rich waste, a significant environmental pollutant. Feed supplementation using purified amino acids produced via biotechnology offers a superior approach from a safety and environmental sustainability perspective.
Many animal feedstocks are deficient in key nutrients. To improve feed efficiency and livestock growth rates, these nutrient deficiencies have historically been overcome by supplementation with nutrients derived from other chemical, plant or animal sources. Fermentative production of animal feedstock molecules offers many advantages over traditional petrochemical or extraction-based production processes. Petrochemical production maintains our reliance on an unsustainable carbon source (oil) and also leads to national security issues as the US is largely dependent on foreign oil sources. Production via extraction from plant or animal materials also has ecological challenges – the process often uses toxic solvents and may rely on unsustainable farming practices. Engineered microbes grown on sugars produced using high-efficiency agricultural practices offer a compelling and sustainable source of key nutrients needed for animal feedstocks. During this NSF Phase I SBIR project, we demonstrated the proof of principle production of a key animal feedstock component using an engineered microorganism. We validated the utility of novel synthetic biology technologies for enhancing titers of our animal feedstock component and demonstrated over a 100-fold increase in production. As a result of our work, we have attracted significant commercial interest from third party companies regarding developing fermentation based processes for various food and nutritional ingredients.
