Team:ITESO Guadalajara

RubisCO.

In RubisCO, we are thinking of new ways in which we can manage the waste we put in the environment through the gas and wastewater streams that come from the city and the industry, by harnessing the capability of cyanobacteria to grow in brackish water and to fix carbon dioxide through its metabolism. But this process has become slow and prone to errors, losing part of its output through photorespiration.

From this understanding, we are focusing our efforts on enhancing the carbon fixing mechanisms of Synechococcus sp. and conducting the surplus of carbon flow to the synthesis of high added-value chemical intermediates, such as free fatty acids, to increase the economic feasibility of the implementation of Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies (CCUs), which are urgently needed to fight back Climate Change. Systems Biology, Bioprocess’ Simulation, and integral stakeholder management have been performed to assess the feasibility and impact of the proposal here presented.

Think global

As young people, we are concerned about being the generation capable of doing something not to be the last to have a decent life this world. We are aware of the state of the environment and the effects of Rapid Climate Change (RCC), which causes, and consequences have been extensively studied; 90% of the total CO 2 emissions come from anthropogenic sources, mainly from industry and the use of fossil fuels, of which only 10% of the world's population is responsible for generating 50% of them [14].

From this grounds, RubisCO's project efforts focused on the improvement of the carbon fixing mechanisms of Synechococcus sp., and to direct the surplus of carbon flow to the synthesis of free fatty acids, as a proof of concept for the synthesis of high added-value chemical intermediates.

Act Local

In the latest studies of the National Inventory of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Compounds (2018), Mexico issued 535 million net metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, representing an increase of 54% from the beginning of the registration in 1990. Of the total emissions, 64% were the use of fossil fuels. [1] .

In the characterization of the problem, it has been identified that only 34.9% of wastewater is available to treat in the Metropolitan Area of Guadalajara, as well as 63 companies from 15 subsectors of the manufacturing industry that emit pollutants Both water and air, specifically 725 million kg of CO 2, with the food industry, that of cellulose and paper and metallurgical and steelmaking occupying the first places. [2]

Our proposal of solution

RubisCO is developing a process for the management and use of liquid and gaseous effluents from the public and private sector to produce high value-added chemical intermediaries, through consolidated bioprocesses, designed to enhance the photosynthetic metabolism of cyanobacteria; which will carry out wastewater treatment and synthesis of secondary metabolites, using carbon dioxide and organic water pollutants as raw material. Cyanobacteria are able to synthesize molecules of high structural complexity, whose total market value amounts to USD $300 trillion per year, some examples of these are: ethanol, isopropanol, 1.3-propanediol, 1-butanol, 2.3- Butanediol, isobutylaldehyde, isobutanol, lactic acid, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, acetone, ethylene, fatty acids, biofuel precursors, biopolymers with the potential to replace plastics, and molecules with pharmaceutical
applications, such as terpenoids or phycocyanin, priced at USD 50 per milligram.

In addition, cyanobacteria have the ability to grow in aqueous environments with high concentrations of contaminants, such as heavy metals or aromatic compounds, which in turn allows to heal contaminated water effluents while using the carbon dioxide in chemical intermediaries. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9, 10, 11, 12, 13]
Cyanobacteria are able to synthesize molecules of high structural complexity, whose total market value amounts to USD $300 trillion per year, some examples of these are: ethanol, isopropanol, 1.3-propanediol, 1-butanol, 2.3-Butanediol, isobutylaldehyde, isobutanol, lactic acid, 3-hydroxypropionic acid, acetone, ethylene, fatty acids, biofuel precursors, biopolymers with the potential to replace plastics, and molecules with pharmaceutical applications, such as terpenoids or phycocyanin, priced at USD 50 per milligram. In addition, cyanobacteria have the ability to grow in aqueous environments with high concentrations of contaminants, such as heavy metals or aromatic compounds, which in turn allows to heal contaminated water effluents while using the carbon dioxide in chemical intermediaries. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9, 10, 11, 12, 13]



REFERENCES

[1] INECC y SEMARNAT, «Análisis de Resultados,» 26 Marzo 2018. [En línea]. Available: https://www.gob.mx/cms/uploads/attachment/file/312045/INEGYCEI6CN_26_marzo_2018.pdf.

[2] SEMARNAT, «Registro de Emisiones y Transferencia de Contaminantes,» 14 Mayo 2019. [En línea]. Available: https://www.gob.mx/semarnat/acciones-y-programas/registro-de-emisiones- y-transferencia-de-contaminantes-retc. [Último acceso: 2019 Septiembre 23].

[3] E. Alper y O. Yuksel Orhan, «CO2 utilization: Developments in conversion processes,» Petroleum, vol. 3, nº 1, pp. 109-126, 2017.

[4] A. Zhang, A. L. Carroll y S. Atsumi, «Carbon recycling by cyanobacteria: improving CO2 fixation through chemical production,» FEMS Microbiology Letters, vol. 364, nº 16, 2017.

[5] N. Nozzi, J. Oliver y S. Atsumi, «Cyanobacteria as a platform for biofuel production,» Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology, vol. 1, nº 7, 2013.

[6] C. Troschl, K. Meixner y B. Drosg, «Cyanobacterial PHA Production—Review of Recent Advances and a Summary of Three Years’ Working Experience Running a Pilot Plant,» Bioengineering, 4(26), p. doi:10.3390/bioengineering4020026 , 2017.

[7] P. Lin y H. Pakrasi, «Engineering cyanobacteria for production of terpenoids,» Planta, vol. 249, nº 1, pp. 145-154, 2019.

[8] A. Ramos, G. Acién, J. Fernández, C. González y R. Bermejo, «Development of a process for large-scale purification of C-phycocyanin from Synechocystis aquatilisusing expanded bed adsorption chromatography,» Journal of Chromatography B, 879, pp. 511-519, 2011.

[9] C. Cerniglia, «Biodegradation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons,» Biodegradation, 3, pp. 351- 368, 1992.

[10] R. Kumar, K. Kishore, M. Kumar, A. Negi y H. Rai, «Biorremediation and cyanobacteria an overview,» Eco Revolution, vol. 9, pp. 190-196, 2012.

[11] Z. Mohamed, «Removal of cadmium and manganese by a non-toxic strain of freshwater cyanobacterium Gloethece magna,» Water Res., 35, pp. 4405-4409, 2001.

[12] S. Raungsomboon, A. Chidthaisong, B. Bunnag, D. Inthorn y N. Harvey, «Removal of lead (Pb2+) by the Cyanobacterium Gloeocapsa sp.,» Bioresource Thechnol., 99, pp. 5650-5658, 2008.

[13] S. Roy, A. Ghosh y A. Thakur, «Uptake of Pb(2+) by a cyanobacterium belonging to the genus Synechocystis, isolated from East Kolkata Wetlands,» Biometals, 21, pp. 515-524, 2008.

[14] Oxfam International, «Oxfam.org,» 2 December 2015. [En línea]. Available: https://www-cdn.oxfam.org/s3fs-public/file_attachments/mb-extreme-carbon-inequality-021215-en.pdf. [Último acceso: 21 10 2019].

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