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Prospects for a bio-based succinate industry

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Abstract

Bio-based succinate is receiving increasing attention as a potential intermediary feedstock for replacing a large petrochemical-based bulk chemical market. The prospective economical and environmental benefits of a bio-based succinate industry have motivated research and development of succinate-producing organisms. Bio-based succinate is still faced with the challenge of becoming cost competitive against petrochemical-based alternatives. High succinate concentrations must be produced at high rates, with little or no by-products to most efficiently use substrates and to simplify purification procedures. Herein are described the current prospects for a bio-based succinate industry, with emphasis on specific bacteria that show the greatest promise for industrial succinate production. The succinate-producing characteristics and the metabolic pathway used by each bacterial species are described, and the advantages and disadvantages of each bacterial system are discussed.

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Acknowledgments

We gratefully acknowledge Drs. Michael Bagdasarian, John Breznak, John Ohlrogge, C. Adinarayana Reddy, and Yair Shachar-Hill for valuable discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    James B. McKinlay & J. Gregory Zeikus

  2. Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Michigan State University, 410 Biochemistry Building, East Lansing, MI, 48824, USA

    C. Vieille & J. Gregory Zeikus

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  1. James B. McKinlay
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  2. C. Vieille
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  3. J. Gregory Zeikus
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Correspondence to J. Gregory Zeikus.

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McKinlay, J.B., Vieille, C. & Zeikus, J.G. Prospects for a bio-based succinate industry. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 76, 727–740 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-1057-y

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