Moorella Strains for the Production of Biochemicals from Syngas

In the process of sugar fermentation, a significant portion of lignocellulosic biomass is left unused. Analternative is the gasification into syngas, a carbon-rich gas mixture. Syngas serves as energy andcarbon source for acetogenic bacteria, which can then produce biochemicals. In the syngasfermentation process even the recalcitrant lignin portion can be fully converted into higher valuecompounds.However, cost-effectiveness of this process requires better understanding of the metabolism andmodification of the acetogenic strains. The present project lays the basis for production of higher valuebiochemicals (acetone) from syngas using Moorella strains. Moorella has outstanding abilities likethermophily and carbon source conversion yields that make it especially suitable for the syngasfermentation process.The present project focuses on understanding the primary metabolism in acetogenic bacteria. The mainresearch aspect is hereby to determine the acceptance of, and the exact growth rates on different carbonsources (C1 and C6 compounds and gaseous substrates) in different Moorella strains. Genome analysison pathway level is performed to link genotype and phenotype. Differential expression analysis (RNAseq)between heterotrophic and autotrophic growth serves to elucidate the regulatory mechanismsunderlying carbon source utilization.In the second part of the project tools for genetic manipulation of Moorella strains are developed. Forexample, a pyrF deletion strain, which allows heterologous gene expression, was constructed. Thesetools and knowledge will be applied to engineer strains with outstanding abilities for the production ofhigher value biochemicals which are currently derived from fossil sources.