Mascoma Corporation Patent applications |
Patent application number | Title | Published |
20150024450 | Gene Knockout Mesophilic and Thermophilic Organisms, and Methods of Use Thereof - One aspect of the invention relates to a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism, wherein a first native gene is partially, substantially, or completely deleted, silenced, inactivated, or down-regulated, which first native gene encodes a first native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of an organic acid or a salt thereof, thereby increasing the native ability of said thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism to produce ethanol as a fermentation product. In certain embodiments, the aforementioned microorganism further comprises a first non-native gene, which first non-native gene encodes a first non-native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of ethanol. Another aspect of the invention relates to a process for converting lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol, comprising contacting lignocellulosic biomass with a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism. | 01-22-2015 |
20150024438 | Heterologous Expression of Termite Cellulases in Yeast - The present invention provides for heterologous expression of termite and termite-associated symbiont cellulases. The cellulases can, for example, be codon-optimized and expressed in yeast host cells, such as the yeast | 01-22-2015 |
20140370561 | GENETICALLY MODIFIED CLOSTRIDIUM THERMOCELLUM ENGINEERED TO FERMENT XYLOSE - One aspect of the invention relates to industrial bioconversion of the xylose portion of biomass materials into fuels and chemicals. Another aspect of the invention relates to industrial bioconversion of the xylan portion of biomass materials into fuels and chemicals. In one embodiment, the invention is directed to the bacterium | 12-18-2014 |
20140356921 | Engineering Microorganisms to Increase Ethanol Production by Metabolic Redirection - The present invention provides for the manipulation of carbon flux in a recombinant host cell to increase the formation of desirable products. The invention relates to cellulose-digesting organisms that have been genetically modified to allow the production of ethanol at a high yield by redirecting carbon flux at key steps of central metabolism. | 12-04-2014 |
20140308724 | Yeast Expressing Saccharolytic Enzymes for Consolidated Bioprocessing Using Starch and Cellulose - The present invention is directed to a yeast strain, or strains, secreting a full suite, or any subset of that full suite, of enzymes to hydrolyze corn starch, corn fiber, lignocellulose, (including enzymes that hydrolyze linkages in cellulose, hemicellulose, and between lignin and carbohydrates) and to utilize pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose). The invention is also directed to the set of proteins that are well expressed in yeast for each category of enzymatic activity. The resulting strain, or strains can be used to hydrolyze starch and cellulose simultaneously. The resulting strain, or strains can be also metabolically engineered to produce less glycerol and uptake acetate. The resulting strain, or strains can also be used to produce ethanol from granular starch without liquefaction. The resulting strain, or strains, can be further used to reduce the amount of external enzyme needed to hydrolyze a biomass feedstock during an Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) process, or to increase the yield of ethanol during SSF at current saccharolytic enzyme loadings. In addition, multiple enzymes of the present invention can be co-expressed in cells of the invention to provide synergistic digestive action on biomass feedstock. In some aspects, host cells expressing different heterologous saccharolytic enzymes can also be co-cultured together and used to produce ethanol from biomass feedstock. | 10-16-2014 |
20140186930 | Methods for the Improvement of Product Yield and Production in a Microorganism Through the Addition of Alternate Electron Acceptors - The present invention provides for novel metabolic pathways to reduce or eliminate glycerol production and increase product formation. More specifically, the invention provides for a recombinant microorganism comprising a deletion of one or more native enzymes that function to produce glycerol and/or regulate glycerol synthesis and one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes that function in one or more engineered metabolic pathways to convert a carbohydrate source, such as lignocellulose, to a product, such as ethanol, wherein the one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes is activated, upregulated, or downregulated. The invention also provides for a recombinant microorganism comprising one or more heterologous enzymes that function to regulate glycerol synthesis and one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes that function in one or more engineered metabolic pathways to convert a carbohydrate source to ethanol, wherein said one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes is activated, upregulated or downregulated. | 07-03-2014 |
20130323822 | Yeast Expressing Saccharolytic Enzymes for Consolidated Bioprocessing Using Starch and Cellulose - The present invention is directed to a yeast strain, or strains, secreting a full suite, or any subset of that full suite, of enzymes to hydrolyze corn starch, corn fiber, lignocellulose, (including enzymes that hydrolyze linkages in cellulose, hemicellulose, and between lignin and carbohydrates) and to utilize pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose). The invention is also directed to the set of proteins that are well expressed in yeast for each category of enzymatic activity. The resulting strain, or strains can be used to hydrolyze starch and cellulose simultaneously. The resulting strain, or strains can be also metabolically engineered to produce less glycerol and uptake acetate. The resulting strain, or strains can also be used to produce ethanol from granular starch without liquefaction. The resulting strain, or strains, can be further used to reduce the amount of external enzyme needed to hydrolyze a biomass feedstock during an Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) process, or to increase the yield of ethanol during SSF at current saccharolytic enzyme loadings. In addition, multiple enzymes of the present invention can be co-expressed in cells of the invention to provide synergistic digestive action on biomass feedstock. In some aspects, host cells expressing different heterologous saccharolytic enzymes can also be co-cultured together and used to produce ethanol from biomass feedstock. | 12-05-2013 |
20130323766 | Production of Malonyl-CoA Derived Products Via Anaerobic Pathways - The present invention provides for novel metabolic pathways to convert biomass and other carbohydrate sources to malonyl-CoA derived products, such as hydrocarbons and other bioproducts, under anaerobic conditions and with the net production of ATP. More specifically, the invention provides for a recombinant microorganism comprising one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes that function in one or more engineered metabolic pathways to achieve conversion of a carbohydrate source to, e.g., long-chain hydrocarbons and hydrocarbon derivatives, wherein the one or more native and/or heterologous enzymes is activated, upregulated, downregulated, or deleted. The invention also provides for processes to convert biomass to malonyl-CoA derived products which comprise contacting a carbohydrate source with a recombinant microorganism of the invention. | 12-05-2013 |
20130273555 | Detoxification of Biomass Derived Acetate Via Metabolic Conversion to Ethanol, Acetone, Isopropanol, or Ethyl Acetate - One aspect of the invention relates to a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism, wherein a first native gene is partially, substantially, or completely deleted, silenced, inactivated, or down-regulated, which first native gene encodes a first native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of an organic acid or a salt thereof, thereby increasing the native ability of said thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism to produce lactate or acetate as a fermentation product. In certain embodiments, the aforementioned microorganism further comprises a first non-native gene, which first non-native gene encodes a first non-native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of lactate or acetate. Another aspect of the invention relates to a process for converting lignocellulosic biomass to lactate or acetate, comprising contacting lignocellulosic biomass with a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism. | 10-17-2013 |
20130052646 | POSITIVE AND NEGATIVE SELECTABLE MARKERS FOR USE IN THERMOPHILIC ORGANISMS - The present invention relates to the field of molecular biology and genetic tool development in thermophilic bacteria. In particular, it relates to the use of positive and/or negative selection markers that can be used to efficiently select modified strains of interest. By providing such capabilities, the disclosed invention facilitates the recycling of genetic markers in thermophilic bacterial host cells. The present invention also allows the creation of unmarked strains. The genetic tools disclosed in the present invention are prerequisites for making targeted higher order mutations in a single thermophilic strain background. | 02-28-2013 |
20120149077 | Mesophilic and Thermophilic Organisms Modified to Produce Acrylate, and Methods of Use Thereof - The present invention provides for novel metabolic pathways leading to acrylate formation in a consolidated bio-processing system (CBP) where lignocellulosic biomass is efficiently converted to acrylate. In one such metabolic pathway, pyruvate is converted to lactate, which is converted to lactoyol-CoA, which is converted to acryloyl-CoA, and which is finally converted to acrylate. In another such metabolic pathway, pyruvate is converted to L-α-alanine, which is converted to L-aspartate, which is converted to β-alanine, which is converted to β-alanyl-CoA, which is converted to acryloyl-CoA, and which is finally converted to acrylate. In yet another metabolic pathway, pyruvate is converted to lactate, and then lactate is converted directly to acrylate. In certain aspects, the invention provides for heterologous expression of one or more enzymes in a mesophilic or thermophilic organism, such as | 06-14-2012 |
20120108798 | Production Of Pure Lignin From Lignocellulosic Biomass - The present invention is directed to a process of producing substantially pure lignin from lignocellulosic biomass, which comprises: pre-treating a lignocellulosic feedstock to produce a reactive lignin-carbohydrate mixture; biologically-reacting the carbohydrates in the mixture, separating remaining solids from the liquid fermentation products, and drying the resulting solids to yield a substantially pure lignin product. Optionally, the lignin product may be washed and subjected to a second hydrolysis step. Optionally, the lignin product may be further processed by hydrotreating and/or pyrolysis in order to yield desirable products such as fuel additives. | 05-03-2012 |
20120094343 | Gene Knockout Mesophilic and Thermophilic Organisms, and Methods of Use Thereof - One aspect of the invention relates to a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism, wherein a first native gene is partially, substantially, or completely deleted, silenced, inactivated, or down-regulated, which first native gene encodes a first native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of an organic acid or a salt thereof, thereby increasing the native ability of said thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism to produce lactate or acetate as a fermentation product. In certain embodiments, the aforementioned microorganism further comprises a first non-native gene, which first non-native gene encodes a first non-native enzyme involved in the metabolic production of lactate or acetate. Another aspect of the invention relates to a process for converting lignocellulosic biomass to lactate or acetate, comprising contacting lignocellulosic biomass with a genetically modified thermophilic or mesophilic microorganism. | 04-19-2012 |
20120040409 | Heterologous Biomass Degrading Enzyme Expression in Thermoanaerobacterium Saccharolyticum - Thermophilic gram-positive anaerobic host cells, for example | 02-16-2012 |
20120003701 | Heterologous Expression of Termite Cellulases Yeast - The present invention provides for heterologous expression of termite and termite-associated symbiont cellulases. The cellulases can, for example, be codon-optimized and expressed in yeast host cells, such as the yeast | 01-05-2012 |
20110312054 | Isolation and Characterization of Schizochytrium Aggregatum Cellobiohydrolase I (CBH I) - The present invention provides for the isolation and characterization of the cbh1 gene from | 12-22-2011 |
20110281362 | Electrotransformation of Gram-Positive, Anaerobic, Thermophilic Bacteria - The present invention relates to methods for transforming Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacteria via electroporation and Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacteria transformed by the disclosed methods. The methods employ voltage pulsing schemes that decrease arcing such that increased transformation efficiency and cell viability is observed. The present invention is further directed to a method for transforming Gram-positive, anaerobic, thermophilic bacteria via electroporation using recovery/selection temperatures to effect increased transformation efficiency in difficult to transform bacteria. | 11-17-2011 |
20110059485 | Plasmids from Thermophilic Organisms, Vectors Derived Therefrom, and Uses Thereof - The present invention is directed to a replicative, thermostable plasmid. In particular, the present invention is directed to a replicative, thermostable plasmid comprising a sequence derived from the pB6A plasmid and at least one functional unit comprising a sequence that is not found in plasmid pB6A. | 03-10-2011 |
20100285534 | COMBINED THERMOCHEMICAL PRETREATMENT AND REFINING OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS - One aspect of the present invention relates to a method of processing lignocellulosic material, comprising initial steam pretreatment to give pretreated lignocellulosic material with an average particle size, followed by refining to give refined lignocellulosic material with an average particle size, wherein the average particle of the pretreated lignocellulosic material is greater than the average particle size of the refined lignocellulosic material. In certain embodiments, the lignocellulosic material is selected from the group consisting of grass, switch grass, cord grass, rye grass, reed canary grass, miscanthus, sugar-processing residues, sugar cane bagasse, agricultural wastes, rice straw, rice hulls, barley straw, corn cobs, cereal straw, wheat straw, canola straw, oat straw, oat hulls, corn fiber, stover, soybean stover, corn stover, forestry wastes, recycled wood pulp fiber, sawdust, hardwood, and softwood. | 11-11-2010 |
20100279361 | TWO-STAGE METHOD FOR PRETREATMENT OF LIGNOCELLULOSIC BIOMASS - One aspect of the invention relates to a process, comprising treating lignocellulosic biomass according to a first pretreatment protocol, thereby generating a first product mixture; separating the first product mixture into a first plurality of fractions; and treating at least one fraction of said first plurality of fractions according to a second pretreatment protocol, thereby generating a second product mixture. In one embodiment, the lignocellulosic biomass is selected from the group consisting of grass, switch grass, cord grass, rye grass, reed canary grass, miscanthus, sugar-processing residues, sugarcane bagasse, agricultural wastes, rice straw, rice hulls, barley straw, corn cobs, cereal straw, wheat straw, canola straw, oat straw, oat hulls, corn fiber, stover, soybean stover, corn stover, forestry wastes, recycled wood pulp protocol protocol fiber, paper sludge, sawdust, hardwood, softwood, and combinations thereof. | 11-04-2010 |