Tetravitae Bioscience has patented a mutant strain of C. beijerinckii (a species of rod-shaped anaerobic bacteria known for their synthesis of organic solvents) that selectively produces high levels of butanol relative to any other known strain and that is known for its stability, robustness, continuous processes adaptability, and responsiveness to genetic modification and improvement. Results from the current bench-scale integrated process demonstrated significant improvements in final solvent concentration, yield, and productivity over batch production methodologies.

Specific attributes and advantages of TetraVitae’s microorganism platform include:

		High yield on feedstock, which results in lower feedstock costs
		High final product concentration / reduced Product inhibition
		High selectivity to butanol production
		Ability to effectively use low-cost cellulosic feedstocks

An additional advantage of C. beijerinckii is the fact that the solvent producing genes are located on the chromosome (rather than on the plasmid for some other species). This has the effect of making C. beijerinckii more genetically stable – an important requirement of a commercial deployment.

TetraVitae is actively developing enhanced strains, more efficient process engineering, and the ability to use low-cost feedstocks. These efforts will contribute to significant additional production cost reductions.