Thermophilic lignocellulose-fermenting microbiomes: defined coculture studies

• Grant number: 21/05397-2
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: June 01, 2021
• End date: March 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Lee Howard Lynd
• Grantee: Melque Natã Pereira da Silva
• Host Institution: Centro de Biologia Molecular e Engenharia Genética (CBMEG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/25682-0 - Advanced second generation biofuels laboratory, AP.BIOEN.SPEC

Abstract

Cellulose and hemicellulose-fermenting microorganisms have evolved in the context of multi-species microbial communities (or "lignocellulose microbiomes"), with different species playing complementary roles in solubilization and fermentation. Documenting the performance, composition, and underlying mechanisms of thermophilic lignocellulose microbiomes informs the development of defined microbial systems for 2G biofuel production. Also, it provides a source of new microbial hosts that could be developed into industrial biocatalysts. In this context, this Ph.D. project aims to I) establish methods and infrastructure to study cellulose and hemicellulose-fermenting thermophilic microbiomes; II) characterize the composition of these microbiomes enriched on bagasse and energy cane (e.g. with respect to 16s RNA, metagenomics, and perhaps proteomics); III) infer taxonomic and functional groups of microorganisms important to the function of the system, and IV) perform defined coculture experiments (e.g. a cellulolytic anaerobe with a methanogen, or cellulolytic and hemicellulose-utilizing microbes). (AU)