Increased ethanol production by thermophilic microorganisms with deletion of individual hfs hydrogenase subunits
AssigneeTrustees of Dartmouth College
InventorsAysenur Eminoglu, Daniel G. Olson, Lee R. Lynd
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are methods for engineering bacteria, for example, Thermoanaerobacterium saccharolyticum, that convert biomass to ethanol at high yield by deleting a single gene. Deletion of subunit A or subunit B of the hfs hydrogenase, but not deletion of subunit C or subunit D, results in an increase in ethanol yield.
Claims20
A genetically engineered microorganism comprising a functional hfsC subunit and a functional hfsD subunit of the hfs hydrogenase, wherein expression of at least one subunit of the hfs hydrogenase is disrupted, said at least one subunit being selected from the group consisting of hfsA and hfsB.
A method of producing ethanol from biomass, comprising contacting the biomass with a genetically engineered microorganism to produce ethanol, said microorganism comprising a functional hfsC subunit and a functional hfsD subunit of the hfs hydrogenase, wherein expression of at least one subunit of the hfs hydrogenase is disrupted, said at least one subunit being selected from the group consisting of hfsA and hfsB.
A method of generating a microorganism, comprising disrupting expression of at least one subunit of the Hfs hydrogenase, said at least one subunit being selected from the group consisting of HfsA and HfsB, said HfsA having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID No. 1, SEQ ID No. 2 and SEQ ID No. 3, said HfsB having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID No. 4, SEQ ID No. 5 and SEQ ID No. 6, wherein said microorganism comprises a functional HfsC subunit and a functional HfsD subunit of the Hfs hydrogenase.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.