title: Economical challenges to microbial producers of butanol: feedstock, butanol ratio and titer.
abstract: Butanol is an important solvent and transport fuel additive, and can be produced by microbial fermentation. Attempts to generate a superior microbial producer of butanol have been made through different metabolic engineering strategies. However, to date, butanol bio-production is still not economically competitive compared to petrochemical-derived production because of its major drawbacks, such as, high cost of the feedstocks, low butanol concentration in the fermentation broth and the co-production of low-value by-products acetone and ethanol. Here we analyze the main bottlenecks in microbial butanol production and summarize relevant advances from recently reported studies. Further needs and directions for developing real industrially applicable strains in butanol production are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Synthetic Biology, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gu
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Xudong
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Zhilin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xiao
authors.forename: Zhaobing
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Hongjun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: Yunliu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Weihong
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Sheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000096:Acetone / Q000378:metabolism; D000440:Butanols / Q000378:metabolism*; D046969:Clostridium acetobutylicum / Q000378:metabolism*; D018556:Crops, Agricultural / Q000378:metabolism; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005285:Fermentation; D007218:Industrial Microbiology; D008031:Lignin / Q000378:metabolism; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods; D012997:Solvents / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000440:Butanols; D012997:Solvents; C036909:lignocellulose; D000096:Acetone; D000431:Ethanol; D008031:Lignin