Mark Nguyen
Chemical engineering
Hometown: Trabuco Canyon, California, United States
Graduation date: Spring 2020
FURI | Spring 2020
Biosynthesis of Ethyl Lactate with Escherichia coli as a microbial host
Ethyl lactate is a common green solvent (listed by DOE), currently derived industrially from petrochemicals. Biosynthesis of ethyl lactate would further increase its sustainability if, for example, obtained from E. coli. Four different sets of genes were selected for ethanol synthesis, lactic acid synthesis, esterase, and acyl alcohol transferase. Genes for ester synthesis were derived from different microbial sources. Plasmids were constructed in pET15b and cloned in E. coli BL21-DE3 with ethanol producing plasmid (pACYDuet). Cells were cultivated with high-cell density in M9 medium; supernatants were analyzed through HPLC (for ethanol and lactate) and GC-MS (for esters).
Mentor: Arul Varman
It’s hip to be square.
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