Location: Bioenergy Research
Project Number: 5010-30600-008-000-D
Project Type: In-House Appropriated
Start Date: May 23, 2025
End Date: May 22, 2030
Objective:
Objective 1: Develop new technologies and enzymes for production of sugars from
lignocellulose.
Sub-objective 1A: Combine thermochemical and mechanical pretreatments to generate sugars under low-severity reaction conditions.
Sub-objective 1B: Produce enzymes that improve hydrolysis of pretreated biomass by targeting hemicellulose recalcitrant saccharide linkages.
Objective 2: Develop microbial based production of co-products from lignocellulosic sugars.
Sub-objective 2A: Convert biomass sugars to butyrate using an integrated cell recycle culture equipped with in situ product recovery.
Sub-objective 2B: Enable combined first and second generation ethanol fermentation and single-cell oil production from hydrolysate.
Sub-objective 2C: Mitigate mineral inhibition to enable itaconic acid (IA) production in fungal hydrolysate cultures.
Sub-objective 2D: Develop desiccation tolerant Pseudomonas strain co-cultures and post-process techniques for effective biocontrol of potato dry rot as a new added co-product using hydrolysate.
Approach:
The U.S. produces 15.6 billion gallons of corn ethanol annually at 198 fermentation sites, mostly located within the Midwest. Yet there is an unmet need to produce more biofuels for conversion to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The target market for SAF is 35 billion gallons annually by 2050. Meeting this demand will require using non-traditional sources of biomass including crop residues and special perennial grasses that can be grown on lands not suited for raising row crops. The sugars are contained in the plant fibers and extracting these sugars requires a complex multi-step procedure. The plant fibers are pretreated to open the fiber structure and treated with special enzymes that digest the fibers into sugars. Herein, research is proposed to advance this national priority by developing technologies for more efficient conversion of plant fibers into sugars and their fermentation into ethanol and bio-based co-products. Production of sugars from biomass will be advanced by developing new mild pretreatments and novel enzymes. Enzyme discovery will be based on advanced analytical methods directed at understanding the structure of the fiber at a molecular level. Other products of this research will be directed at expanding the portfolio of bioproducts. The sugars manufactured from plant fibers will be microbially converted to a variety of industrial chemicals (butyrate, ethanol, itaconate, lipids), and will also be used to produce a biocontrol agent (BCA). Ethanol fermentation of plant fiber and corn sugars will be combined to take advantage of existing infrastructure. Butyrate is a widely used commodity chemical, itaconate can be used to manufacture bioplastics, and lipids can be used either as a bioproduct or as a feedstock to manufacture biodiesel or SAF. Finally, production of BCAs within a regional framework will open a multibillion-dollar market for midwestern biorefiners. The proposed BCA combats fungal dry rot disease in stored potatoes. It also fulfills a critical need for the U.S. potato industry by reducing agricultural use of special antifungal chemicals, which are losing potency and are similar to those used clinically. Taken together, the success of this project will advance the use of non-traditional sources of biomass to benefit the national economy and advance environmental goals as well as directly benefiting Midwest farmers and agricultural processors by creating markets for crop residues and new bioenergy crops suitable for growing on non-production land.