Biotechnology biofuels

Sasikala, K., Ramana, Ch.V. (1995). Biotechnological potentials of anoxygenic phototrophic bacteria. II. Biopolyesters, biopesticide, biofuel, and biofertilizer. Adv. Appl. Microbiol. 41, 227-278. 

A quick look at the most promising biofuels leads to the conclusion that ethanol and butanol are those where the use of biotechnology could play an important role. The same cannot be said for hydrogen and biodiesel, since these caimot be obtained directly by biotechnological processes, nor for 2,5-dimethylfuran, since chemistry is vital for the development of its derivatives. 

It is anticipated that micro-instrumentation will allow for effective evaluation and eventual use of continuous processes in areas where batch approaches have been traditional. The expected impact of this will be significant on energy savings and in environmental and productivity aspects of commercial processing. The areas where this will show early benefits are in pharmaceuticals, but it is envisioned that biotechnology will incorporate the advantages of continuous processing. This will have a broad impact on medicinal bio-products as well as biochemical and biofuel production. 

For 3.8 billion years, enzyme evolution has occurred primarily in microbes exposed to novel environmental conditions. However, in the last two decades, new methods have been developed for laboratory evolution of enzymes for production of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels. Directed evolution has been widely used to improve thermostability and alter substrate specificity. Current efforts aim to improve the catalytic abilities of evolved enzymes, which are usually considerably poorer than those of naturally occurring enzymes, and to evolve novel pathways using promiscuous activities of existing enzymes. These efforts will provide new insights into the adaptation of protein scaffolds for new functions that will both help us to understand the evolutionary history of modern enzymes and provide the basis for a wide range of applications in biotechnology. 

Yeast was the first microbial host used by mankind for biotransformation of raw materials, and it marked the early developments of industrial biotechnology. Initially, Saccharomyces cerevisiae and closely related species were used because of their high fermentative capacity and based on the vast experience from alcoholic beverage production. While a high fermentation rate is favorable for the production of bioethanol and other primary metabolites, it implicates disadvantages for growth-coupled production. Consequently, a number of other yeasts have been developed for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, lipids, or recombinant proteins. 

M. Roehr, ed.. The Biotechnology of Ethanol, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2001 J. Goettemoeller and A. Goettemoeller, Sustainable Ethanol Biofuels, Biorefineries, Cellulosic Biomass, Flex-fuel Vehicles, and Sustainable Farming for Energy Independence, Prairie Oak Pub., Maryville, 2007 L. Olsson, Biofuels, Springer, Berlin, 2007 W. Soetaert, E.J. Vandamme, ed.. Biofuels, John Wiley Sons, Chichester, 2009. 

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