Project description:Clostridium thermocellum is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium that ferments cellulose into ethanol. It is a candidate industrial consolidated bioprocess (CBP) biocatalyst for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. However, C. thermocellum is relatively sensitive to ethanol compared to yeast. Previous studies have investigated the membrane and protein composition of wild-type and ethanol tolerant strains, but relatively little is known about the genome changes associated with the ethanol tolerant C. thermocellum strain. In this study, C. thermocellum cultures were grown to mid-exponential phase and then either shocked with the supplementation of ethanol to a final concentration of 3.95 g/L (equal to 0.5% [v/v]) or were untreated. Samples were taken pre-shock and 2, 12, 30, 60, 120, 240 min post-shock for multiple systems biology analyses. The addition of ethanol dramatically reduced the C. thermocellum growth and the final cell density was approximately half of the control fermentations, with concomitant reductions in substrate consumption in the treated cultures. The response of C. thermocellum to ethanol was dynamic and involved more than six hundred genes that were significantly and differentially expressed between the different conditions over time and every functional category was represented. Cellobiose was accumulated within the ethanol-shocked C. thermocellum cells, as well as the sugar phosphates such as fructose-6-P and cellobiose-6-P. The comparison and correlation among intracellular metabolites, proteomic and transcriptomics profiles as well as the ethanol effects on cellulosome, hydrogenase glycolysis and nitrogen metabolism are discussed, which led us to propose that C. thermocellum may utilize the nitrogen metabolism to bypass the arrested carbon metabolism in responding to ethanol stress shock, and the nitrogen metabolic pathway and redox balance may be the key target for improving ethanol tolerance and production in C. thermocellum.
Project description:Clostridium thermocellum is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacterium that ferments cellulose into ethanol. It is a candidate industrial consolidated bioprocess (CBP) biocatalyst for lignocellulosic bioethanol production. However, C. thermocellum is relatively sensitive to ethanol compared to yeast. Previous studies have investigated the membrane and protein composition of wild-type and ethanol tolerant strains, but relatively little is known about the genome changes associated with the ethanol tolerant C. thermocellum strain. In this study, C. thermocellum cultures were grown to mid-exponential phase and then either shocked with the supplementation of ethanol to a final concentration of 3.95 g/L (equal to 0.5% [v/v]) or were untreated. Samples were taken pre-shock and 2, 12, 30, 60, 120, 240 min post-shock for multiple systems biology analyses. The addition of ethanol dramatically reduced the C. thermocellum growth and the final cell density was approximately half of the control fermentations, with concomitant reductions in substrate consumption in the treated cultures. The response of C. thermocellum to ethanol was dynamic and involved more than six hundred genes that were significantly and differentially expressed between the different conditions over time and every functional category was represented. Cellobiose was accumulated within the ethanol-shocked C. thermocellum cells, as well as the sugar phosphates such as fructose-6-P and cellobiose-6-P. The comparison and correlation among intracellular metabolites, proteomic and transcriptomics profiles as well as the ethanol effects on cellulosome, hydrogenase glycolysis and nitrogen metabolism are discussed, which led us to propose that C. thermocellum may utilize the nitrogen metabolism to bypass the arrested carbon metabolism in responding to ethanol stress shock, and the nitrogen metabolic pathway and redox balance may be the key target for improving ethanol tolerance and production in C. thermocellum. A thirty array study using total RNA recovered from wild-type cultures of Clostridium thermocellum at different time points of 0, 12, 30, 60, 120, and 240 min post-inoculation with 3.95 g/L [0.5% (v/v)] treatment compred to that of control without ethanol supplementation. Two biological replicates for treatment and control condition.
Project description:Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus is an extremely thermophilic, Gram-positive anaerobe, which ferments cellulose-, hemicellulose- and pectin-containing biomass to acetate, CO2 and hydrogen. Its broad substrate range, high hydrogen-producing capacity, and ability to co-utilize glucose and xylose, make this bacterium an attractive candidate for microbial bioenergy production. Glycolytic pathways and an ABC-type sugar transporter were significantly up-regulated during growth on glucose and xylose, indicating that C. saccharolyticus co-ferments these sugars unimpeded by glucose-based catabolite repression. The capacity to simultaneously process and utilize a range of carbohydrates associated with biomass feedstocks represents a highly desirable feature of a lignocellulose-utilizing, biofuel-producing bacterium. Keywords: substrate response
Project description:The ideal microorganism for consolidated biomass processing to biofuels has the ability to breakdown of lignocellulose. This issue was examined for the H2-producing, extremely thermophilic bacterium Caldicellulosiruptor saccharolyticus growing on lignocellulose samples as well as model hemicellulose components. Identification of the enzymes utilized by the cell in lignocellulose saccharification was done using whole-genome transcriptional response analysis and comparative genomics.
Project description:The thermophilic anaerobe Clostridium thermocellum is a candidate consolidated bioprocessing biocatalyst for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into ethanol. The microorganism expresses enzymes for both cellulose solubilization and fermentation to produce lignocellulosic ethanol making it a good candidate for industrial biofuel production. Intolerance to stresses routinely encountered during industrial fermentations may hinder the commercial development of this organism. A recently published study by Yang et al., (2012) characterized the physiological and regulatory response of C. thermocellum to ethanol supplementation. Significant changes in nitrogen metabolism and an accumulation of carbon sources were identified, revealing potential targets for metabolic engineering. In the current study, the response of C. thermocellum to heat and furfural shock were compared with the known effects of ethanol shock. Improved tolerance to these stresses are desirable traits for C. thermocellum and further understanding of the effects that these particular stresses have on the organism are the focus of this work. A forty one array study using total RNA recovered from wild-type cultures of Clostridium thermocellum at different time points of 10, 30, 60, and 120 min post-treatment with 3.95 g.L-1 ethanol, 4 g.L-1 furfural or 68°C treatment compred to that of control without treatment. At least two biological replicates were performed for each treatment and control condition.
Project description:In order to study the protein responsive network to thermal stress, the proteome analysis of Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, a kind of anaerobic thermophilic eubacterium, were performed.