Production of high-value antibiotics by Teredinibacter turnerae using paper- and plant-based waste products

Cellulosic materials are commonly used in the production of biofuels and commodity chemicals. Here, we employ a cellulolytic bacterium to produce high-value antibiotics using paper and plant waste material as primary feedstocks. Teredinibacter turnerae is an intracellular symbiont of shipworms, marine bivalves of the family Teredinidae, where it contributes cellulases and other carbohydrate-active enzymes that help the animals digest wood. T. turnerae is also a prolific producer of antibiotic drug leads proposed to be integral to shipworm ecology. In the presence of waste cellulose as the sole carbon source, T. turnerae robustly produced potent antiparasitic and antibiotic agents. This suggests an inexpensive strategy to harness mixed waste materials for the synthesis of high-value compounds, such as pharmaceuticals.