Engineering bacterial microcompartments in Clostridium autoethanogenum to overcome bottlenecks in sustainable production of synthetic rubber

The C. auto genome encodes two operons with the necessary genes to encode a functional microcompartment system. By leveraging C. auto and one or both of its MCP systems, we will unlock the ability to use C. auto to produce an even wider variety of biochemicals and further expand the metabolic engineering toolbox for this emerging model organism. This work will be broken down over three specific objectives: • Objective 1: Develop native C. auto MCP systems into tunable organelles • Objective 2: Demonstrate the utility of MCPs in sequestering toxic intermediates during terpenoid production in C. auto • Objective 3: Demonstrate the utility of MCPs in protecting intermediates from off-pathway reactions during 1,3-butanediol production in C. auto. Our proposal addresses the FOA's call for “research to advance the development of promising new model organisms, microbial functional capabilities, and biosynthetic pathways relevant to biofuels and bioproducts production”.