TMO Renewables and Integrated Genomics Extend Cellulosic Ethanol Research Collaboration

CHICAGO & GUILDFORD, England--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Integrated Genomics, Inc., a leader in microbial genomic informatics and TMO Renewables Limited, a leader in the production of ethanol from biomass, announced today that they have signed an agreement to extend their collaboration on the discovery of cellulosic bioethanol production systems.

“We have developed unique high-temperature process organisms capable of producing bioethanol quickly and efficiently from a wide diversity of sustainable cellulosic feedstocks. We are delighted to announce this extension of our collaboration with Integrated Genomics to find additional opportunities to exploit these organisms”

Integrated Genomics ERGO™ platform is the leading genomic tool for microbial systems biology. Scientists at IG will work with TMO to identify pathways that can be exploited in future “upgrades” to TMO’s proprietary cellulosic ethanol process. The initial targets of the collaboration are two of IG’s proprietary membrane transport proteins that will be evaluated in TMO’s thermophilic strains.

“We have developed unique high-temperature process organisms capable of producing bioethanol quickly and efficiently from a wide diversity of sustainable cellulosic feedstocks. We are delighted to announce this extension of our collaboration with Integrated Genomics to find additional opportunities to exploit these organisms,” said Dr Kirstin Eley, External Program Manager at TMO.

Optimized for analysis of microorganisms, ERGO™ integrates biological data from genomics, biochemistry, gene expression studies, genetics and literature. Reaching beyond conventional systems for functional analysis by DNA sequence alone, Integrated Genomics' platform combines pattern-based analyses with a repertoire of comparative genomics tools for gene visualization in the contexts of regulation, expression data, phylogeny, chromosomal neighborhoods and gene fusions. ERGO™ contains more than 1350 genomes at various stages of completion, as well as the largest available collection of networked cellular pathways.

About Integrated Genomics

Integrated Genomics (www.integratedgenomics.com) is a provider of bioinformatics products and services for the life sciences industry. The company’s expertise in microbial genomics includes genome sequencing, comparative genomics and custom bioinformatics applications. IG has developed and distributes ERGO™, the most advanced and comprehensive bioinformatics suite for microbial genomics on the market. ERGO™ contains the largest available integration of microbial genome data, including genome-derived metabolic reconstructions representing over 6,000 networked metabolic and non-metabolic pathways.

About TMO Renewables Limited

TMO Renewables Limited is a leader in the development of second generation sustainable biofuels. TMO’s process is capable of utilizing all of the hexose and pentose sugars, including complex longer chain forms, derived from biomass and their high temperature process is capable of producing fuel ethanol at high efficiency and high conversion rates. TMO has built the UK’s first cellulosic ethanol demonstration facility which integrates all the necessary steps in a continuous ethanol production process. TMO’s integrated sustainable approach to ethanol production utilizes readily available and low cost biomass feedstocks. Furthermore, the process can be a net energy contributor by applying energy recovery techniques.