A Review on The Bioconversion of Lignin to Microbial Lipid with Oleaginous Rhodococcus opacus

Journal Article · Thu Jun 29 04:00:00 UTC 2017 · Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4172/2155-952X.1000262 · OSTI ID:1376594

Mahan, Kristina M. ^[1]; Le, Rosemary K. ^[1]; Yuan, Joshua ^[2]; Ragauskas, Arthur J. ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
2. Texas A & M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)

Rhodococcus opacus produces intracellular lipids from the biodegradation of lignocellulosic biomass. These lipids can be used to produce biofuels that could potentially replace petroleum-derived chemicals. Some current studies are focusing on deconstructing lignin through efficient and cost-effective pretreatment methods and improving microbial lipid titers. Furthermore, R. opacus can reach high levels of oleaginicity (>80%) when grown on glucose and other aromatic model compounds but intracellular lipid production is much lower on complex recalcitrant lignin substrates. Our review will discuss recent advances in studying R. opacus lignin degradation by exploring different pretreatment methods, increasing lignin solubility, enriching for low molecular weight lignin compounds and laccase supplementation.

• Research Organization: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER) (SC-23)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC05-00OR22725; EE0006112
• OSTI ID: 1376594
• Journal Information: Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials, Journal Name: Journal of Biotechnology & Biomaterials Journal Issue: 02 Vol. 07; ISSN 2155-952X
• Publisher: OMICS InternationalCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English