title: Prospects for a bio-based succinate industry.
abstract: Bio-based succinate is receiving increasing attention as a potential intermediary feedstock for replacing a large petrochemical-based bulk chemical market. The prospective economical and environmental benefits of a bio-based succinate industry have motivated research and development of succinate-producing organisms. Bio-based succinate is still faced with the challenge of becoming cost competitive against petrochemical-based alternatives. High succinate concentrations must be produced at high rates, with little or no by-products to most efficiently use substrates and to simplify purification procedures. Herein are described the current prospects for a bio-based succinate industry, with emphasis on specific bacteria that show the greatest promise for industrial succinate production. The succinate-producing characteristics and the metabolic pathway used by each bacterial species are described, and the advantages and disadvantages of each bacterial system are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA.
authors.forename: James B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: McKinlay
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vieille
authors.forename: J Gregory
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Zeikus
mesh_terms: D002072:Butylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry; D006092:Gram-Negative Facultatively Anaerobic Rods / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D013386:Succinates / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D002072:Butylene Glycols; D013386:Succinates; C039681:1,4-butanediol