Cloning and expression of DHA genes from Klebsiella pneumoniae in Escherichia coli strains to 1,3-propanediol production

• Grant number: 11/21620-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Doctorate
• Effective date (Start): April 01, 2012
• Effective date (End): December 31, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Jonas Contiero
• Grantee: Paulo Marcelo Avila Neto
• Supervisor: Cong T. Trinh
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biociências (IB). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Rio Claro. Rio Claro , SP, Brazil
• Research place: University of Tennessee (UT), United States
• Associated to the scholarship: 11/01974-3 - Production of 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae and Escherichia coli: Media optimization and cloning of genes., BP.DR

Abstract

There is a great availability of raw glycerol with the increasing production of biodiesel over the world. In Brazil, it is expected a 200 thousand tons market of biodiesel glycerol with the use of 5% biodiesel mixture to diesel. Nevertheless, the refinement and purification of raw glycerol is a very costly process. The utilization of raw glycerol, more than producing high value-added products, can help to reduce the costs of biodiesel, since storage or disposal costs of raw glycerol are linked to biodiesel price. One alternative is to use biodiesel glycerol as substrate to produce 1,3-propanediol by several bacteria, including Klebsiella pneumoniae. Since K. pneumoniae is a oportunistic pathogen, it may have limitations to industrial use. This project aims to increase 1,3-propanediol production by genetically engineered E. coli. (AU)