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Fermentative butanol production by clostridia

  1. Sang Yup Lee1,2,*,
  2. Jin Hwan Park1,2,3,
  3. Seh Hee Jang1,2,3,
  4. Lars K. Nielsen4,
  5. Jaehyun Kim5,
  6. Kwang S. Jung5

Article first published online: 9 JUN 2008

DOI: 10.1002/bit.22003

Issue

Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Biotechnology and Bioengineering

Volume 101, Issue 2, pages 209–228, 1 October 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lee, S. Y., Park, J. H., Jang, S. H., Nielsen, L. K., Kim, J. and Jung, K. S. (2008), Fermentative butanol production by clostridia. Biotechnol. Bioeng., 101: 209–228. doi: 10.1002/bit.22003

Author Information

  1. 1

    Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Program), BioProcess Engineering Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; telephone: +82-42-869-3930; fax: +82-42-869-3910

  2. 2

    Center for Systems and Synthetic Biotechnology, Institute for the BioCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

  3. 3

    Biofuelchem, Office of University-Industry Cooperation, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

  4. 4

    Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld, Australia

  5. 5

    GS Caltex Corporation R&D Center, Yusung-gu, Daejeon, Republic of Korea

*Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 Program), BioProcess Engineering Research Center, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 373-1 Guseong-dong, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea; telephone: +82-42-869-3930; fax: +82-42-869-3910.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 25 AUG 2008
  2. Article first published online: 9 JUN 2008
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 9 JUN 2008 12:00AM EST
  4. Manuscript Accepted: 27 MAY 2008
  5. Manuscript Revised: 20 MAY 2008
  6. Manuscript Received: 20 MAR 2008

Funded by

  • Ministry of Knowledge Economy (Korea-Australia Collaborative Research Project)
  • GS Caltex
  • Biofuelchem

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Keywords:

  • butanol;
  • metabolic engineering;
  • Clostridium;
  • systems biotechnology

Abstract

Butanol is an aliphatic saturated alcohol having the molecular formula of C4H9OH. Butanol can be used as an intermediate in chemical synthesis and as a solvent for a wide variety of chemical and textile industry applications. Moreover, butanol has been considered as a potential fuel or fuel additive. Biological production of butanol (with acetone and ethanol) was one of the largest industrial fermentation processes early in the 20th century. However, fermentative production of butanol had lost its competitiveness by 1960s due to increasing substrate costs and the advent of more efficient petrochemical processes. Recently, increasing demand for the use of renewable resources as feedstock for the production of chemicals combined with advances in biotechnology through omics, systems biology, metabolic engineering and innovative process developments is generating a renewed interest in fermentative butanol production. This article reviews biotechnological production of butanol by clostridia and some relevant fermentation and downstream processes. The strategies for strain improvement by metabolic engineering and further requirements to make fermentative butanol production a successful industrial process are also discussed. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2008;101: 209–228. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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