7273
Clostridium beijerinckii ATCC 35702 Genome sequencing
The most recent crisis in rising oil prices has reinvigorated the interest in solventogenic clostridia, well known for their ability to produce acetone/butanol/ethanol using plant biomass feedstock. Butanol has long been considered a viable option as an alternative high-energy content molecule. However, economically feasible industrial applications have been stymied by butanol's toxic effects mainly on the cell membrane of solvent producing clostridia; consequently, restricting final butanol production and accumulation. Here to discover genomic variations that may account for the increased butanol tolerance the whole genome of Clostridium beijerinckii ATCC 35702 was sequenced using the Illumina GA IIx platform. The reference genome of C. beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 provided an in silico template for assembly and comparison. Assembly and analysis was performed using MAQ version 0.7.1 and Breakdancer version 1.0 algorithms. Subsequently, putative variations were analyzed by PCR and Sanger sequencing. This genomic approach helped to bring understanding to butanol tolerance in C. beijerinckii.