Exploration of Formate Metabolism-Related Genes and Creation of high performance Formate-assimilating Bacteria

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 20K05784
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 38020:Applied microbiology-related
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: Ihara Masaki 信州大学, 学術研究院農学系, 准教授 (50391868)
• Project Period (FY): 2020-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: ギ酸 / ギ酸資化菌 / カーボンリサイクル

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Attention has been focused on the formic acid bioconversion process using formic acid-utilizing bacteria, in which it can convert formic acid into useful substances. However, there have been few studies on formic acid-utilizing bacteria. Therefore, we tried to isolate novel formic acid-utilizing bacteria and compare their growth capabilities to identify strains suitable for practical use. First, we established an isolation method and investigated the bottleneck in cultivation. As a result, we successfully isolated numerous novel strains and identified pH and dissolved oxygen concentration as the bottlenecks. Furthermore, we found that maintaining pH between 6.8 and 7.5 and dissolved oxygen concentration above 5 ppm could enhance their growth capabilities. By comparing the growth under these conditions, we identified strains that exhibited higher growth capabilities than conventional strains.

Free Research Field

カーボンリサイクル

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

今後の脱炭素社会では、再生可能エネルギーを用いて、CO2から様々な物質を合成することになる。この物質生産をカーボンリサイクルと呼ぶ。ギ酸は、CO2から電気化学的に生成でき、水溶性や安全性に優れているため、カーボンリサイクルの出発物質として重要視されている。そのため、ギ酸から生分解性プラスチックなど高分子までがワンポット変換が可能である、ギ酸資化菌を用いたバイオプロセスに注目が集まっている。今回我々は、増殖能に優れた新規ギ酸資化菌を単離でき、培養を確立するためのデータを得ることができた。