Research with Clostridium Species in Biofuel and Biochemical Product Production

A special issue of Fermentation (ISSN 2311-5637). This special issue belongs to the section "Industrial Fermentation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 December 2024 | Viewed by 1362

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Guest Editor
Department of Animal Sciences and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, USA
Interests: microbial physiology; biofuels (butanol, ethanol, methane) and biochemicals (2,3-butanediol, acetone, isopropanol) production; downstream processing; biomass pretreatment technologies; lignocellulose-derived microbial inhibitory compounds and mitigations; metabolic engineering; bioreactor design; alcoholic fermentation and anaerobic digestion
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The Clostridium genus, which includes both pathogenic and non-pathogenic anaerobic species, has recently received considerable attention. This is due to the medical relevance of clostridial pathogenic species, as well as the capacity of non-pathogenic or solventogenic species to produce biofuels and biochemical products. The overarching objective of this Special Issue is to explore the physiology, metabolic engineering, and diverse applications of solventogenic Clostridium species for the synthesis of biofuels and biochemicals. Some examples of the solventogenic Clostridium species include, but are not limited to, Clostridium beijerinckii, C. acetobutylicum, C. tetanomorphum, C. thermosaccharolyticum, C. butyricum, C. saccharobutylicum, C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum, C. muellerianum, C. autoethanogenum, C. ljungdahlii, C. ragsdalei, C. aceticum, C. carboxidivorans, C. pasteurianum, C. drakei, C. kluyveri, C. propionicum, Alkalibaculum bacchi, Butyribacterium methylotrophicum, and Moorella thermoacetica. The goal is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current research status in this field, with a particular focus on the solventogenic Clostridium species.

Specifically, in this Special Issue, entitled “Research with Clostridium Species in Biofuel and Biochemical Product Production”, there will be an exploration of distinctive traits of solventogenic Clostridium species, which include the capacity to ferment a broad variety of monosaccharides (e.g., glucose and xylose), disaccharides (e.g., maltose, cellobiose, and sucrose), polysaccharides (e.g., starch), and gases (e.g., carbon monoxide and dioxide), as well as the capacity to produce a variety of saccharolytic enzymes and a diversity of end products. How these traits make Clostridium an attractive candidate for biofuel and biochemical production, with the potential to address key challenges in the field of renewable energy and sustainable chemicals, will be explored.

Furthermore, there will be an exploration of advancements in bioprocessing methods utilizing Clostridium species, which will include metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and integrated fermentation with in situ product recovery. These methods are being investigated to improve the yield, effectiveness, and specificity of biofuel and biochemical production, and in other related disciplines. Additionally, this Special Issue will highlight the economic benefits of utilizing Clostridium for biofuel and biochemical production, and the development of sustainable and economically efficacious processes. In this Special Issue, therefore, we extend invitations to authors to submit their original research and review articles that focus on various aspects of Clostridium-centric research. These contributions may include, but are not limited to, the biochemistry, ecology, and physiology of solventogenic Clostridium species, with the goal of advancing our understanding of fuel and biochemical product production processes. We also welcome contributions that delve into cutting-edge technologies related to the synthesis of acetone, ethanol, propanol, propanediol, butanol, 2,3-butanediol, pentanol, and hexanol from sugars and gases, thus expanding the current state of the art in this field. We look forward to the contributions of the authors who take advantage of this opportunity.

Prof. Dr. Thaddeus Ezeji
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • acetone
  • butanol
  • propanol
  • propanediol
  • butanediol
  • pentanol
  • hexanol
  • heptanol
  • Clostridium
  • integrated fermentation
  • metabolic engineering
  • technoeconomic analysis
  • biomass conversion

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

21 pages, 1323 KiB  
Review
Molecular Markers and Regulatory Networks in Solventogenic Clostridium Species: Metabolic Engineering Conundrum
by Tinuola Olorunsogbon, Christopher Chukwudi Okonkwo and Thaddeus Chukwuemeka Ezeji
Fermentation 2024, 10(6), 297; https://doi.org/10.3390/fermentation10060297 - 4 Jun 2024
Viewed by 862
Abstract
Solventogenic Clostridium species are important for establishing the sustainable industrial bioproduction of fuels and important chemicals such as acetone and butanol. The inherent versatility of these species in substrate utilization and the range of solvents produced during acetone butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation make solventogenic [...] Read more.
Solventogenic Clostridium species are important for establishing the sustainable industrial bioproduction of fuels and important chemicals such as acetone and butanol. The inherent versatility of these species in substrate utilization and the range of solvents produced during acetone butanol–ethanol (ABE) fermentation make solventogenic Clostridium an attractive choice for biotechnological applications such as the production of fuels and chemicals. The functional qualities of these microbes have thus been identified to be related to complex regulatory networks that play essential roles in modulating the metabolism of this group of bacteria. Yet, solventogenic Clostridium species still struggle to consistently achieve butanol concentrations exceeding 20 g/L in batch fermentation, primarily due to the toxic effects of butanol on the culture. Genomes of solventogenic Clostridium species have a relatively greater prevalence of genes that are intricately controlled by various regulatory molecules than most other species. Consequently, the use of genetic or metabolic engineering strategies that do not consider the underlying regulatory mechanisms will not be effective. Several regulatory factors involved in substrate uptake/utilization, sporulation, solvent production, and stress responses (Carbon Catabolite Protein A, Spo0A, AbrB, Rex, CsrA) have been identified and characterized. In this review, the focus is on newly identified regulatory factors in solventogenic Clostridium species, the interaction of these factors with previously identified molecules, and potential implications for substrate utilization, solvent production, and resistance/tolerance to lignocellulose-derived microbial inhibitory compounds. Taken together, this review is anticipated to highlight the challenges impeding the re-industrialization of ABE fermentation, and inspire researchers to generate innovative strategies for overcoming these obstacles. Full article
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