Presentation Information
[2EMT-15]Integrating chemically synthesized sugar mixtures into next-generation biomanufacturing processes
○Souichiro Kato1 (1. Tokyo Univ. (Japan))
Keywords:
biomanufacturing,alternative feedstocks,formose reaction,atypical sugars,sugar metabolism
There is a growing demand for alternative feedstocks for biomanufacturing that do not rely on crop-derived edible biomass. Among the promising future options, biomanufacturing technologies that integrate chemical processes to convert CO2 into organic feedstocks have emerged as a particularly compelling approach. Chemical processes, including inorganic catalysis and electrochemical reactions, offer reaction rates far exceeding those of biological systems in light harvesting and simple chemical transformations. However, their reaction selectivity remains low, making it difficult to synthesize specific target molecules. To address these challenges, our group aims to establish next-generation bioproduction processes that combine the strengths of both chemical and biological systems. Our efforts include: (i) bioproduction using H2-oxidizing bacteria that convert CO2 into organic compounds using H2 generated via water electrolysis powered by renewable energy, and (ii) biomanufacturing from mixtures of short-chain organic acids and alcohols produced as by-products of chemical CO2 utilization processes, including CO2 electroreduction and Fischer–Tropsch synthesis. In this presentation, I will focus on our recent progress in developing bioproduction technologies that utilize chemically synthesized sugars as feedstocks.
The formose reaction is a well-known sugar-forming process in which formaldehyde is heated in the presence of a basic catalyst such as calcium hydroxide. However, due to its highly stochastic reaction pathways, the products are complex mixtures of diverse sugars with extremely low biological usability, limiting their practical application. Our group has developed a modified formose reaction that proceeds under neutral conditions, effectively suppressing undesirable side reactions (1). Nevertheless, the resulting sugars remain a mixture, including branched-chain sugars and non-natural enantiomers (primarily L-form sugars) that are not metabolized by typical microbes. Interestingly, when we used these chemically synthesized sugars as substrates to enrich soil microbial communities, most of the sugars were consumed, suggesting the presence of environmental microbes capable of catabolizing unusual sugars that typical microbes cannot utilize. Indeed, we successfully isolated several such microbes capable of catabolizing unusual sugars, including tetroses, branched pentoses, and L-form sugars (2, 3), and for some strains we have already identified previously unknown metabolic pathways. We are currently advancing research to demonstrate the feasibility of bioproduction using chemically synthesized sugars, including metabolic engineering of microbes with high catabolic capacity for these sugars and the introduction of novel sugar-catabolizing pathways into strains used for conventional bioproduction processes.
1) Tabata H. et al., Chem. Sci. 14: 13475-13484 (2023)
2) Kawasaki K. et al., Sci. Rep. 19: 734 (2026)
3) Nishijima H. et al., bioRxiv. 10.64898/2026.01.17.700050 (2026)
The formose reaction is a well-known sugar-forming process in which formaldehyde is heated in the presence of a basic catalyst such as calcium hydroxide. However, due to its highly stochastic reaction pathways, the products are complex mixtures of diverse sugars with extremely low biological usability, limiting their practical application. Our group has developed a modified formose reaction that proceeds under neutral conditions, effectively suppressing undesirable side reactions (1). Nevertheless, the resulting sugars remain a mixture, including branched-chain sugars and non-natural enantiomers (primarily L-form sugars) that are not metabolized by typical microbes. Interestingly, when we used these chemically synthesized sugars as substrates to enrich soil microbial communities, most of the sugars were consumed, suggesting the presence of environmental microbes capable of catabolizing unusual sugars that typical microbes cannot utilize. Indeed, we successfully isolated several such microbes capable of catabolizing unusual sugars, including tetroses, branched pentoses, and L-form sugars (2, 3), and for some strains we have already identified previously unknown metabolic pathways. We are currently advancing research to demonstrate the feasibility of bioproduction using chemically synthesized sugars, including metabolic engineering of microbes with high catabolic capacity for these sugars and the introduction of novel sugar-catabolizing pathways into strains used for conventional bioproduction processes.
1) Tabata H. et al., Chem. Sci. 14: 13475-13484 (2023)
2) Kawasaki K. et al., Sci. Rep. 19: 734 (2026)
3) Nishijima H. et al., bioRxiv. 10.64898/2026.01.17.700050 (2026)
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