Flux Balance Analysis Indicates that Methane Is the Lowest Cost Feedstock for Microbial Cell Factories.

ABSTRACT: The low cost of natural gas has driven significant interest in using C₁ carbon sources (e.g. methane, methanol, CO, syngas) as feedstocks for producing liquid transportation fuels and commodity chemicals. Given the large contribution of sugar and lignocellulosic feedstocks to biorefinery operating costs, natural gas and other C1 sources may provide an economic advantage. To assess the relative costs of these feedstocks, we performed flux balance analysis on genome-scale metabolic models to calculate the maximum theoretical yields of chemical products from methane, methanol, acetate, and glucose. Yield calculations were performed for every metabolite (as a proxy for desired products) in the genome-scale metabolic models of three organisms: Escherichia coli (bacterium),

SUBMITTER: Comer AD 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5628509 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature