2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) Bioproduction Engineering Service

2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) is a high-value platform chemical with applications spanning biofuels, fuel additives, chemical synthesis, and pharmaceutical precursors. The microbial fermentation route offers a sustainable path to production. However, commercialization is limited by three major constraints: the production of mixed isomers, low fermentation productivity, and the formation of unwanted byproducts.

We provide advanced Metabolic Engineering and Host Engineering services focused on optimizing 2,3-BDO production. Our strategy includes eliminating competing metabolic pathways (knocking out LDH and PFL) to maximize BDO yield, introducing isomer-specific enzymes to achieve high optical purity, and utilizing robust, high-rate thermophilic strains. This integrated approach ensures the cost-effective bioproduction of high-titer, isomerically pure 2,3-BDO.

Pain Points

The microbial production of 2,3-BDO faces several key technical and purity challenges:

• Isomer Purity Challenge: Fermentation naturally produces a mixture of three isomers (D, L, meso). Many specific applications (e.g., fuel additives) require a single, high-purity isomer, necessitating costly separation.
• Low Productivity and Product Toxicity: The accumulation of 2,3-BDO can be toxic to the microbial host, resulting in slow growth, low final titer, and reduced fermentation rates.
• Byproduct Formation: Fermentation often results in the formation of unwanted side products like Lactic Acid, Ethanol, and Acetoin, which significantly decrease the target 2,3-BDO yield and complicate downstream purification.
• Substrate Flexibility: Many industrial strains are limited to high-cost glucose, failing to efficiently utilize cheaper biomass-derived substrates like xylose or glycerol.

Achieving commercial success requires maximizing titer and yield while ensuring high optical purity.

Solutions

We employ sophisticated metabolic and host engineering to deliver high-performance 2,3-BDO strains:

Metabolic Pathway Knockout

     

Knockout competing pathway enzymes like Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) and Pyruvate Formate Lyase (PFL) to eliminate Lactic Acid and Ethanol byproducts.

Isomer-Specific Enzyme Introduction

Introduce a specific Isomer-specific Butanediol Dehydrogenase (BDH) to guide the reaction toward a single BDO isomer (D, L, or meso) for high optical purity.

Thermophilic Host Engineering

Utilize thermophilic or moderately thermophilic strains and engineer them for higher fermentation rates, reduced contamination risk, and improved solvent tolerance.

Product Tolerance and Efflux

Engineer the host cell membrane and transport systems to enhance tolerance to the BDO product, allowing for higher final fermentation titers.

Our systematic strategy ensures maximum carbon efficiency toward the desired 2,3-BDO isomer.

Advantages

Our 2,3-BDO Engineering service offers the following competitive advantages:

High Isomer Purity

Introduction of isomer-specific BDH ensures production of the desired single isomer (D, L, or meso) with >99% purity.

Maximized Product Yield

Knockout of competing pathways (LDH, PFL) redirects carbon flux efficiently, maximizing the theoretical BDO yield.

High Productivity and Titer

Use of thermophilic and solvent-tolerant strains allows for higher fermentation rates and robust final BDO concentrations.

Simplified Purification

Elimination of major byproducts (Lactic Acid, Ethanol) dramatically simplifies downstream separation and recovery efforts.

Broad Substrate Utilization

Engineering efforts focus on strains capable of utilizing low-cost C5 (xylose) and C6 (glucose) sugars from lignocellulosic biomass.

We provide a specialized platform for the sustainable and cost-competitive bioproduction of high-purity 2,3-Butanediol.

Process

Our 2,3-BDO Engineering service follows a rigorous, multi-stage research workflow:

• Strain Selection and Metabolic Profiling: Select a high-potential native BDO producer and map the central metabolic pathways and byproduct formation routes.
• Knockout and Pathway Engineering: Perform targeted gene deletions (LDH, PFL) to redirect carbon flux towards the 2,3-BDO pathway.
• Isomer Purity Tuning: Introduce and optimize the expression of an isomer-specific Butanediol Dehydrogenase (BDH) to control the stereoisomer ratio.
• Host Tolerance and Robustness: Engineer the cell membrane and efflux pumps to enhance tolerance to high concentrations of 2,3-BDO.
• Fermentation Process Optimization: Optimize batch and fed-batch fermentation parameters (pH, temperature, oxygen supply) to maximize titer and productivity.
• Result Report Output: Deliver a detailed report including engineered strain data, fermentation protocols, and final validated 2,3-BDO titer, yield, and optical purity metrics.

Technical communication is maintained throughout the process, focusing on timely feedback regarding yield and isomer purity.

Explore the potential for a high-titer, high-purity 2,3-BDO supply. We provide customized bioproduction solutions:

• Detailed Titer, Yield, and Optical Purity Analysis Report, demonstrating the success of the metabolic tuning.
• Consultation on fermentation scale-up design and continuous production strategies.
• Experimental reports include complete raw data on final BDO titer (g/L) and byproduct concentrations, essential for downstream processing design.