Genetically encoded biosensors for lignocellulose valorization

Modern society is hugely dependent on finite oil reserves for the supply of fuels and chemicals. Moving our dependence away from these unsustainable oil-based feedstocks to renewable ones is therefore a critical factor towards the development of a low carbon bioeconomy. Lignin derived from biomass feedstocks offers great potential as a renewable source of aromatic compounds if methods for its effective valorization can be developed. Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering offer the potential to synergistically enable the development of cell factories with novel biosynthetic routes to valuable chemicals from these sustainable sources. Pathway design and optimization is however a major bottleneck due to the lack of high-throughput methods capable of screening large libraries of genetic variants and the metabolic burden associated with bioproduction. Genetically encoded biosensors can provide a solution by transducing the target metabolite concentration into detectable signals to provide high-throughput phenotypic read-outs and allow dynamic pathway regulation. The development and application of biosensors in the discovery and engineering of efficient biocatalytic processes for the degradation, conversion and valorization of lignin is paving the way towards a sustainable and economically viable biorefinery.