Engineering Synthetic Methylotrophy to Generate Liquid Fuels and Desirable Chemicals

This invention utilizes a model organism Escherichia coli and incorporates genes that synthetically allows the organism to utilize methanol and carbon dioxide to produce acetyl-coA which can then be used to generate liquid fuels or other desirable chemicals. By virtue of such modifications the model organism Escherichia coli turns into a synthetic methylotroph which can utilize methanol and carbon dioxide for growth and production of chemicals. Methylotrophic bacteria are organisms able to utilize one-carbon molecules such as methanol or methane as their sole carbon energy source for growth. The function of this invention is to enable the methylotrophic E. coli (and possibly other bacteria) to produce formaldehyde which is then converted to pyruvate and acetyl-coA through a series of enzymatic reactions. The acetyl-coA can then be used to generate useful chemicals and fuels. This invention is a novel approach since it is a cost-efficient method for biofuel production with minimal carbon dioxide formation. Applications: Filtration of Chemical Aerosols and Vapors