Genetic improvement of microorganisms for applications in biorefineries

Abstract

The development of biorefineries directed to the production of fuels, chemicals and energy is important to reduce economic dependence and environmental impacts of a petroleum-based economy. Microorganisms are essential in several industrial bioprocesses nowadays, and it is expected that new microbial bioprocesses will play a key role in biorefineries. However, the bioconversion process requires a robust and highly productive microorganism. In this scenario, several strategies to genetically improve microorganisms to overcome the bioprocesses challenges have been considered. In this work, we review microorganisms importance in the biorefineries concept, highlight the desirable traits they must hold in order to be employed, and discuss the main strategies to improve such traits. The focuses of this work are on four main targets in the improvement of microorganisms: driving carbon flux towards the desired pathway, increasing tolerance to toxic compounds, increasing substrate uptake range and new products generation.