UCLA engineers develop new metabolic pathway to more efficiently convert sugars into biofuels

Scientists at UCLA have created a new synthetic metabolic pathway for hydrolyzing glucose that could lead to a 50% increase in the production of biofuels! Nearly all organisms use glycolysis to convert 4 of the 6 carbon atoms in glucose into 2-carbon molecules of acetyl-CoA. Acetyl-CoA is used to make biofuels (ethanol & butanol), fatty acids, amino acids, and pharmaceutical products. The problem is that the 2 remaining carbon atoms in glucose are lost as carbon dioxide gas and this is seen as a major inefficiency in the biorefining process.

The newly developed synthetic glycolytic pathway converts all 6 carbon atoms in glucose into 3 molecules of acetyl-CoA without losing any as carbon dioxide gas. The synthetic pathway, non-oxidative glycolysis (NOG), has been genetically engineered into E. coli bacteria that now demonstrates complete carbon conservation. The resulting 3 acetyl-CoA molecules can be used to produce a desired chemical with higher carbon efficiency.

Read the full UCLA Newsroom article HERE.