REHOVOT, Israel--(BUSINESS WIRE)--White Dog Labs Israel, a subsidiary of WDL, and AdvanceBio have received a grant from BIRD Energy, a BIRD Foundation (Israel-US Binational Industrial Research and Development Foundation) program, to further develop CelZyme™, a cellulosic hydrolysis technology developed by WDL Israel using the microorganism Clostridium thermocellum (Ctx).
In the wild, Ctx is nature’s best cellulosic degrader, and since it is anaerobic, the technology has the potential of lowering enzymes costs via onsite CelZyme production, using part of the biomass as its feedstock.
WDL, based in New Castle, DE, has developed a core competency for the isolation, selection, cultivation and engineering of Clostridia. Clostridia is a long known but less understood class of bacteria, with promising applications in nutrition, health and biochemicals and fuels. With its synthetic biology tools for Clostridia, WDL is coupling boundless natural diversity with directed innovation. In Delaware, WDL has developed ProTyton™, a Single Cell Protein ingredient for aquaculture that exhibits upwards of 85wt% crude protein and over 35wt% essential amino acids, while WDL Israel has focused on industrial applications.
The AdvanceBio group, based in Cincinnati OH, provides renewable chemical and fuel process technology development and design services globally. Specializing in delivering innovative process solutions, they offer services to first generation producers as well as companies developing second-generation (i.e., cellulosic) ethanol processes.” Their SüPR•2G continuous horizontal screw thermo-chemical reactors are currently operated by eleven biomass research groups in six countries.
“We are delighted to be a part of this effort,” said Dale Monceaux, Principle at AdvanceBio. “We believe that our process engineering expertise and biomass pre-treatment equipment and experience, will support and accelerate the development of CelZyme to lower the cost of cellulosic biofuels and chemicals. Recent process development and design work has highlighted the value of thermo-stable cellulases. Not only do they improve the kinetics of the cellulose hydrolysis reaction, they also serve to suppress the growth of contaminating microbes during the saccharification and fermentation processes.”
Ctx has been researched in Israel for the past few decades by professors Bayer and Lamed – they have discovered that the degradation of the cellulosic materials is carried out by a large extracellular cellulase system they called “cellulosome.” WDL Israel couples this core knowledge with practical clostridia cultivation and fermentation technologies.
"We are privileged to work with AdvanceBio,” said Alon Karpol, GM of WDL Israel. “We have successfully completed the feasibility phase of the technology and this collaboration will enhance the CelZyme product development.”
For information on White Dog Labs, please visit www.WhiteDogLabs.com.
For information on AdvanceBio, please visit www.AdvanceBio.com.
CelZyme and ProTyton are trademarks of WDL.