Regulation of solvent production in Clostridium acetobutylicum

The production of acetone and butanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum was once one of the largest fermentation processes but, once it was no longer competitive with chemical synthesis, it was discontinued. However, the combined efforts of several laboratories have increased our knowledge of the molecular basis of solvent production and this, combined with a better understanding of the regulation of the genes responsible for solvent formation, should enable a more pragmatic approach to the construction of C. acetobutylicum strains producing high yields of specific metabolites in a selective manner.