I-Corps: Lignin-derived antimicrobials to control bacterial contamination in fuel ethanol fermentation

I-Corps：木质素衍生抗菌剂可控制燃料乙醇发酵中的细菌污染

• 批准号: 2105899
• 负责人: Jian Shi
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Kentucky Research Foundation
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2021-02-01 至 2023-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2105899&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Lignin; derived; antimicrobials; control

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of a sustainable antibiotic replacement, produced from a known waste stream (lignin), for use during fuel ethanol fermentation. In the fuel ethanol industry, traditional antibiotics, such as virginiamycin or penicillin, are introduced prophylactically into the fermentation process to reduce occurrences of bacterial contamination. However, widespread use of such antibiotics has increased the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microorganisms that pose an ever-growing risk to human health and the environment. Additionally, these antibiotics have been shown to persist in downstream coproducts such as distillers’ grains, which is becoming a major concern for consumers of livestock that are fed the byproduct. Therefore, the production of novel antimicrobial agents with similar selective toxicity, better biodegradability, and effectiveness against antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains would be highly marketable and useful in industrial yeast fermentation environments. If commercialized successfully, the proposed innovation may offer industrial consumers a sustainably derived antibiotic product to combat contamination during fermentation without the pitfalls of traditional antibiotics. In addition, valorization of lignin waste streams for value-added products may allow future lignocellulosic-based biorefineries to be more cost-effective.This I-Corps project is based on the development of an antibiotic replacement produced from lignin waste streams. Lignin is one of the most abundant natural phenolic polymers on earth, plays an important role in plants’ natural defense mechanisms, and is currently considered a major waste product in the paper and pulp industries and lignocellulosic biorefineries. Despite the widely reported antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, lignin-derived antimicrobials have poor selectivity thus limiting their real-world applications. The proposed technology offers a potential solution by converting lignin into a cost-effective and biodegradable antimicrobial product that may selectively inhibit bacterial contaminates and increase ethanol yields during fuel ethanol fermentation. By oxidatively depolymerizing lignin into a liquid product under mild reaction conditions, the resulting product has shown selective antimicrobial properties against lactic acid bacteria, including antibiotic resistant strains, without affecting yeast growth and hydrolase activity. Proof of concept has been demonstrated at the lab scale, but further development of the technology demands a better understanding of the potential customer needs.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

该I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是开发由已知废物流（木质素）生产的可持续抗生素替代品，用于燃料乙醇发酵期间。在燃料乙醇工业中，将传统的抗生素（例如牙氨霉素或青霉素）进行预防性引入发酵过程，以减少细菌污染的发生。但是，这种抗生素的宽度使用增加了抗生素耐药的微生物的出现，这些微生物对人类健康和环境构成了不断增长的风险。此外，这些抗生素已被证明在下游共同种植中持续存在，例如蒸馏剂的谷物，这成为饲养副产品的牲畜消费者的主要关注点。因此，生产具有相似选择性毒性，更好的生物降解性和对抗生素耐药细菌菌株的有效性的新型抗菌剂将在工业酵母菌发酵环境中高度销售且有用。如果成功商业化，则提出的创新可能会为工业消费者提供可持续发展的抗生素产品，以在发酵过程中打击污染，而无需传统的抗生素陷阱。此外，增值产品的木质素废物流的价值可能使将来的基于木质纤维素的生物精制更具成本效益。该I-Corps项目基于从木质素废料流中产生的抗生素替代品的开发。木质素是地球上最丰富的天然苯酚聚合物之一，在植物的自然防御机制中起着重要作用，目前被认为是纸张和纸浆工业和木质纤维素生物工业中的主要废物。尽管有广泛报道的抗氧化剂和抗菌特性，但木质素衍生的抗菌剂的选择性较差，从而限制了其现实世界的应用。提出的技术通过将木质素转化为一种具有成本效益且可生物降解的抗菌产物，可以选择性地抑制细菌污染物并增加燃料乙醇发酵过程中乙醇的产量，从而提供了潜在的解决方案。通过在轻度反应条件下氧化解聚木质素成液产生的液态产物，所得产物显示了针对乳酸细菌的选择性抗菌特性，包括抗生素抗性菌株，而不会影响酵母菌生长和水解酶活性。概念证明已在实验室范围内证明，但是该技术的进一步发展要求对潜在客户需求有更好的了解。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并通过使用基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响来审查标准，被认为是珍贵的支持。