Overcoming strain degeneration in the Weizmann process for continuous production of advanced biofuels

Abstract We engineered Clostridium acetobutylicum to continuously and stably produce advanced biofuels by integrating the pSOL1 megaplasmid into the chromosome using an advanced synthetic biology approach and further integrating sadh and hydG from Clostridium beijerinckii to convert acetone to isopropanol. In a membrane bioreactor, continuously fed with a glucose mineral medium, the final strain stably produced advanced biofuels at high yield (0.31 g·g-1), titre (15.4 g·L-1) and productivities (15.5 g·L-1·h-1).