Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)
University of Manitoba
$81,656.00
Tools for enhanced microbial synthesis of bioproducts.
FY 2014-15
Summary
A biotechnology and fermentation facility for bioengineering of biofuels and bioproducts was established in the Department of Biosystems Engineering in 2007. The availability of equipment in this facility enabled the applicants to secure significant levels of operating funds (> $1,000,000 per year from 2009 to 2014) and facilitated cutting edge research, which has resulted in 33 publications (mostly co-authored by Levin and Cicek et al.) in peer-reviewed journals. We wish to upgrade the biotechnology and fermentation facility to stream-line the scale-up production of bio-products (high-value lipids, anti-oxidants, and biopolymers) synthesized by microorganisms by expanding on our ability to monitor real-time fermentation reaction parameters such oxygen (O2) consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) production by aerobic bacteria, biomass production (cell number increase), and changes in genome copy number and/or gene expression. We are currently developing batch, fed-batch, and continuous fermentation processes to optimize both cell mass production and yields of bioproducts, such as short chain length (scl-) and medium chain length (mcl-) polyhydroxylakanoate (PHA) polymers by bacteria (commonly referred to as bio-plastics), neutral lipids by oleaginous yeasts, and anti-oxidants by microalgae. These are aerobic processes in which the microorganisms consume O2 and release CO2 as a function of cell metabolism and growth. The ability to monitor and correlate instantaneous changes in cell mass with changes in O2 and CO2 concentrations will greatly facilitate the optimization of fermentation conditions for bioproduct synthesis. These tools will enable the optimization of growth of different microorganisms under different conditions in flask experiments before we scale-up the fermentation reactions in bioreactors. These tools will also enable us to quantify the growth of microorganisms at the level of genome copy number, as well as changes in levels of gene transcription in response to changes in growth conditions or in co-cultures containing two or more species. The requested tools will greatly enhance our ability to conduct leading edge research, and overcome barriers to biopolymer commercialization.
Program
Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)
Recipient
Location
Manitoba, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
472550-2015
Name nom
Levin, David
Department département
Biosystems Engineering
Organization id
19
Institution établissement
University of Manitoba
Province en
Manitoba
Province fr
Manitoba
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2014
Competition year année de concours
2015
Award amount
81656
Program id
EQPEQ
Program name en
Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)
Program name fr
Outils et instruments de recherche - catégorie 1 (<150 000$)
Group en
Discovery grants programs
Group fr
Programmes de subventions à la découverte
Committee code
1511
Committee name en
Materials and Chemical Engineering
Committee name fr
Génie chimique et des matériaux
Area of application code
500
Area of application group en
Manufacturing processes and products
Area of application group fr
Procédés et produits industriels
Area of application en
Manufacturing processes and products
Area of application fr
Procédés et produits industriels
Research subject code
1802
Research subject group en
Chemical engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie chimique
Research subject en
Biochemical engineering
Research subject fr
Génie biochimique
Partie
1
Nb partie
1
Application title
Tools for enhanced microbial synthesis of bioproducts.
Keyword
NSERC
Application summary
A biotechnology and fermentation facility for bioengineering of biofuels and bioproducts was established in the Department of Biosystems Engineering in 2007. The availability of equipment in this facility enabled the applicants to secure significant levels of operating funds (> $1,000,000 per year from 2009 to 2014) and facilitated cutting edge research, which has resulted in 33 publications (mostly co-authored by Levin and Cicek et al.) in peer-reviewed journals. We wish to upgrade the biotechnology and fermentation facility to stream-line the scale-up production of bio-products (high-value lipids, anti-oxidants, and biopolymers) synthesized by microorganisms by expanding on our ability to monitor real-time fermentation reaction parameters such oxygen (O2) consumption and carbon dioxide (CO2) production by aerobic bacteria, biomass production (cell number increase), and changes in genome copy number and/or gene expression. We are currently developing batch, fed-batch, and continuous fermentation processes to optimize both cell mass production and yields of bioproducts, such as short chain length (scl-) and medium chain length (mcl-) polyhydroxylakanoate (PHA) polymers by bacteria (commonly referred to as bio-plastics), neutral lipids by oleaginous yeasts, and anti-oxidants by microalgae. These are aerobic processes in which the microorganisms consume O2 and release CO2 as a function of cell metabolism and growth. The ability to monitor and correlate instantaneous changes in cell mass with changes in O2 and CO2 concentrations will greatly facilitate the optimization of fermentation conditions for bioproduct synthesis. These tools will enable the optimization of growth of different microorganisms under different conditions in flask experiments before we scale-up the fermentation reactions in bioreactors. These tools will also enable us to quantify the growth of microorganisms at the level of genome copy number, as well as changes in levels of gene transcription in response to changes in growth conditions or in co-cultures containing two or more species. The requested tools will greatly enhance our ability to conduct leading edge research, and overcome barriers to biopolymer commercialization.
