PURAC and Greenomics™ (Plant Research International B.V.) announced today the completion of the whole-genome sequencing of a production strain of PURAC that produces high amounts of lactic acid. Greenomics™ conducted the shotgun cloning and high quality sequencing of the genome up to a zero-gap situation. The closed genome is accompanied by an automated annotation and a functional classification of all the genes by bioinformatics tools.

The positive results obtained so far has encouraged PURAC to continue the research in this field and to collaborate further with Greenomics™ in a comparative genomics project involving another lactic acid producing strain. The collaboration is not addressed at genetic modification. The results of these genomics efforts will support PURAC’s gene discovery projects, and will allow PURAC to understand these lactic acid producing microorganisms at the molecular level and to establish metabolic engineering strategies. PURAC’s goal is to maintain its leading position in the development of lactic acid technologies by developing new production methods for lactic acid, resulting in new products, lower production costs and less waste.