Grant: Strategic Projects - Group

A fairy tale from the Grimm brothers (Rumpelstilskin) talks about turning straws into gold. In this proposal, new technologies will be developed in areas of nano- and bio-technologies to turn agricultural (corn stovers, wheat straws) and woody (wood chips and sawdust) feedstocks to green gold (biofuels in the form of ethanol). The green gold technology is significantly different from the traditional black gold (petroleum) technology in two aspects. 1. The process of extracting crude oil from the ground and using gasoline as the transport fuel release significant amounts of greenhouse gases (GHG). These GHGs have been linked to global warming which can have significant impacts to mankind in the near future. The use of ethanol as the transport fuel can minimize GHG emission. 2. In contrast to crude oil which can one day be depleted, bioethanol can be generated from renewable sources. Currently, three technologies are involved in bioethanol production. These include sugar ethanol from sugarcane in Brazil, grain ethanol from corn and wheat in North America and cellulosic ethanol from corn stovers and wheat straws from many countries. Since Canada is not ideal for sugarcane cultivation and the grain ethanol approach has caused a major concern with the perception of food for fuel, cellulosic ethanol is the best choice for Canada. However, the enzymes (cellulases and hemicellulases) required to break down cellulose to glucose are relatively complex and costly. New technologies to improve the activities of these enzymes and to lower the production cost would be needed. In this proposal, a tiny protein platform will be engineered to capture different enzymes to form a nano-enzyme complex which can work cooperatively to break down cellulose. These enzymes will be assembled on the platform in a predetermined order. Degradation intermediates will diffuse from one enzyme to the other in close proximity. Highly efficient enzymes are selected to incorporate into the platform. All these components will be recombinantly produced using a microbial factory (Bacillus subtilis, a non-pathogenic bacterium) developed in my laboratory. These technologies, if successfully developed, will allow cellulosic ethanol production to be truly cost-effective.