Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The existing technology for producing bioethanol from corn starch has reached maturity though its long-term prospects are limited due to economic and technical constraints. However, extensive analyses of the process has established that the production of bioethanol from the fermentation of more abundant cellulosic substrate could become a viable and sustainable technology. Important technical constraints preventing the use of cellulosic ethanol include low microbial conversion efficiencies and complexity of the exiting industrial process. Both of these roadblocks could be overcome by engineering superior lignocellulose degrading systems in robust ethanologenic strains and improving yields of ethanol in metabolically engineered strains. Because microbes have intricate metabolic and regulatory networks, these targeted pathway(s) or process(es) can not be analyzed  or engineered in isolation but must be studied within the cellular context. Therefore, by using a combined microbial genomics and proteomics approach, we hope to ultimately be able to predict, control, and design these pathways in microorganisms to engineer efficient and robust industrial strains. In the present economy, Canada depends heavily on non-renewable fossil fuels for energy and to produce petrochemical derived products. The research program supported by this application aims at reducing the use of petrochemical based processes, thereby reducing pollution and diminishing our dependency on non-renewable resources. As a result, this research has the potential of improving air quality and reducing emissions of greenhouse gases, which would benefit the health and quality of life of Canadians.