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Engineering unnatural methylotrophic cell factories for methanol-based biomanufacturing: Challenges and opportunities. Biotechnol Adv 2020; 39:107467. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2019.107467] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/18/2018] [Revised: 10/31/2019] [Accepted: 11/02/2019] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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52
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Kim S, Lindner SN, Aslan S, Yishai O, Wenk S, Schann K, Bar-Even A. Growth of E. coli on formate and methanol via the reductive glycine pathway. Nat Chem Biol 2020; 16:538-545. [PMID: 32042198 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-020-0473-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 160] [Impact Index Per Article: 40.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/09/2019] [Revised: 12/16/2019] [Accepted: 01/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Engineering a biotechnological microorganism for growth on one-carbon intermediates, produced from the abiotic activation of CO2, is a key synthetic biology step towards the valorization of this greenhouse gas to commodity chemicals. Here we redesign the central carbon metabolism of the model bacterium Escherichia coli for growth on one-carbon compounds using the reductive glycine pathway. Sequential genomic introduction of the four metabolic modules of the synthetic pathway resulted in a strain capable of growth on formate and CO2 with a doubling time of ~70 h and growth yield of ~1.5 g cell dry weight (gCDW) per mol-formate. Short-term evolution decreased doubling time to less than 8 h and improved biomass yield to 2.3 gCDW per mol-formate. Growth on methanol and CO2 was achieved by further expression of a methanol dehydrogenase. Establishing synthetic formatotrophy and methylotrophy, as demonstrated here, paves the way for sustainable bioproduction rooted in CO2 and renewable energy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seohyoung Kim
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Steffen N Lindner
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Selçuk Aslan
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Oren Yishai
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Sebastian Wenk
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Karin Schann
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Arren Bar-Even
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
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53
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Takeya T, Yamakita M, Hayashi D, Fujisawa K, Sakai Y, Yurimoto H. Methanol production by reversed methylotrophy constructed in Escherichia coli. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 2020; 84:1062-1068. [PMID: 31942827 DOI: 10.1080/09168451.2020.1715202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
We constructed a reversed methylotrophic pathway that produces methanol, a promising feedstock for production of useful compounds, from fructose 6-phosphate (F6P), which can be supplied by catabolism of biomass-derived sugars including glucose, by a synthetic biology approach. Using Escherichia coli as an expression host, we heterologously expressed genes encoding methanol utilization enzymes from methylotrophic bacteria, i.e. the NAD+-dependent methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) from Bacillus methanolicus S1 and an artificial fusion enzyme of 3-hexulose-6-phosphate synthase and 6-phospho-3-hexuloisomerase from Mycobacterium gastri MB19 (HPS-PHI). We confirmed that these enzymes can catalyze reverse reactions of methanol oxidation and formaldehyde fixation. The engineered E. coli strain co-expressing MDH and HPS-PHI genes produced methanol in resting cell reactions not only from F6P but also from glucose. We successfully conferred reversed methylotrophy to E. coli and our results provide a proof-of-concept for biological methanol production from biomass-derived sugar compounds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tomoyuki Takeya
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Miyabi Yamakita
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Daisuke Hayashi
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Kento Fujisawa
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Yasuyoshi Sakai
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
| | - Hiroya Yurimoto
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan
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54
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Wang Y, Fan L, Tuyishime P, Zheng P, Sun J. Synthetic Methylotrophy: A Practical Solution for Methanol-Based Biomanufacturing. Trends Biotechnol 2020; 38:650-666. [PMID: 31932066 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2019.12.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2019] [Revised: 11/25/2019] [Accepted: 12/06/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
The increasing availability and affordability of natural gas has renewed interest in using methanol for bioproduction of useful chemicals. Engineering synthetic methylotrophy based on natural or artificial methanol assimilation pathways and genetically tractable platform microorganisms for methanol-based biomanufacturing is drawing particular attention. Recently, intensive efforts have been devoted to demonstrating the feasibility and improving the efficiency of synthetic methylotrophy. Various fuel, bulk, and fine chemicals have been synthesized using methanol as a feedstock. However, fully synthetic methylotrophs utilizing methanol as the sole carbon source and commercially viable bioproduction from methanol remain to be developed. Here, we review ongoing efforts to identify limiting factors, optimize synthetic methylotrophs, and implement methanol-based biomanufacturing. Future challenges and prospects are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Liwen Fan
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China
| | - Philibert Tuyishime
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Ping Zheng
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; School of Life Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, 230026, China.
| | - Jibin Sun
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China.
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55
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Rohlhill J, Gerald Har JR, Antoniewicz MR, Papoutsakis ET. Improving synthetic methylotrophy via dynamic formaldehyde regulation of pentose phosphate pathway genes and redox perturbation. Metab Eng 2019; 57:247-255. [PMID: 31881281 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2019.12.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/23/2019] [Revised: 12/17/2019] [Accepted: 12/21/2019] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Escherichia coli is an ideal choice for constructing synthetic methylotrophs capable of utilizing the non-native substrate methanol as a carbon and energy source. All current E. coli-based synthetic methylotrophs require co-substrates. They display variable levels of methanol-carbon incorporation due to a lack of native regulatory control of biosynthetic pathways, as E. coli does not recognize methanol as a proper substrate despite its ability to catabolize it. Here, using the E. coli formaldehyde-inducible promoter Pfrm, we implement dynamic expression control of select pentose-phosphate genes in response to the formaldehyde produced upon methanol oxidation. Genes under Pfrm control exhibited 8- to 30-fold transcriptional upregulation during growth on methanol. Formaldehyde-induced episomal expression of the B. methanolicus rpe and tkt genes involved in the regeneration of ribulose 5-phosphate required for formaldehyde fixation led to significantly improved methanol assimilation into intracellular metabolites, including a 2-fold increase of 13C-methanol into glutamate. Using a simple strategy for redox perturbation by deleting the E. coli NAD-dependent malate dehydrogenase gene maldh, we demonstrate 5-fold improved biomass formation of cells growing on methanol in the presence of a small concentration of yeast extract. Further improvements in methanol utilization are achieved via adaptive laboratory evolution and heterologous rpe and tkt expression. A short-term in vivo13C-methanol labeling assay was used to determine methanol assimilation activity for Δmaldh strains, and demonstrated dramatically higher labeling in intracellular metabolites, including a 6-fold and 1.8-fold increase in glycine labeling for the rpe/tkt and evolved strains, respectively. The combination of formaldehyde-controlled pentose phosphate pathway expression and redox perturbation with the maldh knock-out greatly improved both growth benefit with methanol and methanol carbon incorporation into intracellular metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julia Rohlhill
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St, Newark, DE, 19716, USA; Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, DE, 19711, USA
| | - Jie Ren Gerald Har
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Maciek R Antoniewicz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St, Newark, DE, 19716, USA
| | - Eleftherios T Papoutsakis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, 150 Academy St, Newark, DE, 19716, USA; Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, 15 Innovation Way, Newark, DE, 19711, USA.
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56
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Yang X, Yuan Q, Luo H, Li F, Mao Y, Zhao X, Du J, Li P, Ju X, Zheng Y, Chen Y, Liu Y, Jiang H, Yao Y, Ma H, Ma Y. Systematic design and in vitro validation of novel one-carbon assimilation pathways. Metab Eng 2019; 56:142-153. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2019] [Revised: 08/17/2019] [Accepted: 09/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/24/2022]
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57
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Espinosa MI, Williams TC, Pretorius IS, Paulsen IT. Benchmarking two Saccharomyces cerevisiae laboratory strains for growth and transcriptional response to methanol. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2019; 4:180-188. [PMID: 31667368 PMCID: PMC6807065 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2019.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2019] [Revised: 09/27/2019] [Accepted: 10/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
One-carbon compounds, such as methanol, are becoming potential alternatives to sugars as feedstocks for the biological production of chemicals, fuels, foods, and pharmaceuticals. Efficient biological production often requires extensive genetic manipulation of a microbial host strain, making well-characterised and genetically-tractable model organisms like the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae attractive targets for the engineering of methylotrophic metabolism. S. cerevisiae strains S288C and CEN.PK are the two best-characterised and most widely used hosts for yeast synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, yet they have unpredictable metabolic phenotypes related to their many genomic differences. We therefore sought to benchmark these two strains as potential hosts for engineered methylotrophic metabolism by comparing their growth and transcriptomic responses to methanol. CEN.PK had improved growth in the presence of methanol relative to the S288C derivative BY4741. The CEN.PK transcriptome also had a specific and relevant response to methanol that was either absent or less pronounced in the BY4741 strain. This response included up-regulation of genes associated with mitochondrial and peroxisomal metabolism, alcohol and formate dehydrogenation, glutathione metabolism, and the global transcriptional regulator of metabolism MIG3. Over-expression of MIG3 enabled improved growth in the presence of methanol, suggesting that MIG3 is a mediator of the superior CEN.PK strain growth. CEN.PK was therefore identified as a superior strain for the future development of synthetic methylotrophy in S. cerevisiae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica I. Espinosa
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
- CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Thomas C. Williams
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
- CSIRO Synthetic Biology Future Science Platform, Canberra, ACT, 2601, Australia
| | - Isak S. Pretorius
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
| | - Ian T. Paulsen
- ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Department of Molecular Sciences, Macquarie University, NSW, Australia
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58
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Wang C, Ren J, Zhou L, Li Z, Chen L, Zeng AP. An Aldolase-Catalyzed New Metabolic Pathway for the Assimilation of Formaldehyde and Methanol To Synthesize 2-Keto-4-hydroxybutyrate and 1,3-Propanediol in Escherichia coli. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:2483-2493. [PMID: 31603652 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.9b00102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
Formaldehyde (HCHO) is an important intermediate in the metabolism of one-carbon (C1) compounds such as methanol, formate, and methane. The ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) pathway is the most-studied HCHO assimilation route and the 3-hexulose-6-phosphate synthase (Hps) plays an important role for HCHO fixation. In this study, we proposed and selected a pyruvate-dependent aldolase to channel HCHO into 2-keto-4-hydroxybutyrate as an important intermediate for biosynthesis. By combining this reaction with three further enzymes we demonstrated a pyruvate-based C1 metabolic pathway for biosynthesis of the appealing compound 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO). This novel pathway is first confirmed in vitro using HCHO and pyruvate as substrates. It is then demonstrated in vivo in E. coli for 1,3-PDO production from HCHO and methanol with glucose as a cosubstrate. This de novo pathway has several decisive advantages over the known metabolic pathways for 1,3-PDO: (1) C1 carbon is directly channeled into a precursor of 1,3-PDO; (2) the use of pyruvate as an acceptor of HCHO is glycerol-independent, circumventing thus the need of coenzyme B12 as cofactor for glycerol dehydration; (3) the pathway is much shorter and more simple than the recently proposed l-homoserine-dependent pathway, thus avoiding complicated regulations involving precursors for essential amino acids. In addition to proof-of-concept we further improved the host strain by deleting a gene (frmA) responsible for the conversion of HCHO to formate, thereby increasing the production of 1,3-PDO from 298.3 ± 11.4 mg/L to 508.3 ± 9.1 mg/L and from 3.8 mg/L to 32.7 ± 0.8 mg/L with HCHO and methanol as cosubstrate of glucose fermentation, respectively. This work is the first study demonstrating a genetically engineered E. coli that can directly use HCHO or methanol for the synthesis of 2-keto-4-hydroxybutyrate and its further conversion to 1,3-PDO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuang Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
| | - Jie Ren
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
- State Key Laboratory for Biology of Plant Diseases and Insect Pests/Key Laboratory of Control of Biological Hazard Factors (Plant Origin) for Agri-product Quality and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, No. 2 West Yuanmingyuan Rd., Haidian District, 100193, Beijing, China
| | - Libang Zhou
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
| | - Zhidong Li
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
| | - Lin Chen
- Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology Denickestrasse 15, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany
| | - An-Ping Zeng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, Chaoyang District, 100029, Beijing, China
- Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology Denickestrasse 15, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany
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59
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Mixed carbon substrates: a necessary nuisance or a missed opportunity? Curr Opin Biotechnol 2019; 62:15-21. [PMID: 31513988 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.07.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2019] [Revised: 06/24/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Although fermentation with single carbon sources is the preferred mode of operation in current industrial biotechnology, the use of multiple substrates has been continuously investigated throughout the years. Generally, microbial metabolism varies significantly when cells are presented with mixed carbon substrates compared to a single carbon-energy source, as different nutrients interact in complex ways within the metabolic network. By exploiting these distinct modes of interaction, researchers have identified unique opportunities to optimize metabolism using mixed carbon sources. Here we review situations where process yield and productivity are markedly improved through the judicious introduction of substrate mixtures. Our goal is to illustrate that with proper design of the choice of substrates and the way they are introduced to cultures, metabolic optimization with mixed substrates can be a unique strategy that complements genetic engineering techniques to enhance cell performance beyond what is accomplished in single substrate fermentations.
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60
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Antoniewicz MR. Synthetic methylotrophy: Strategies to assimilate methanol for growth and chemicals production. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2019; 59:165-174. [PMID: 31437746 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2019.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2019] [Revised: 07/12/2019] [Accepted: 07/17/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Methanol is an attractive and broadly available substrate for large-scale bioproduction of fuels and chemicals. It contains more energy and electrons per carbon than carbohydrates and can be cheaply produced from natural gas. Synthetic methylotrophy refers to the development of non-native methylotrophs such as Escherichia coli and Corynebacterium glutamicum to utilize methanol as a carbon source. Here, we discuss recent advances in engineering these industrial hosts to assimilate methanol for growth and chemicals production through the introduction of the ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) cycle. In addition, we present novel strategies based on flux coupling and adaptive laboratory evolution to engineer new strains that can grow exclusively on methanol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maciek R Antoniewicz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Metabolic Engineering and Systems Biology Laboratory, University of Delaware, Newark DE 19716, USA.
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61
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Roth TB, Woolston BM, Stephanopoulos G, Liu DR. Phage-Assisted Evolution of Bacillus methanolicus Methanol Dehydrogenase 2. ACS Synth Biol 2019; 8:796-806. [PMID: 30856338 PMCID: PMC6479731 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.8b00481] [Citation(s) in RCA: 46] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic methylotrophy, the modification of organisms such as E. coli to grow on methanol, is a longstanding goal of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. The poor kinetic properties of NAD-dependent methanol dehydrogenase, the first enzyme in most methanol assimilation pathways, limit pathway flux and present a formidable challenge to synthetic methylotrophy. To address this bottleneck, we used a formaldehyde biosensor to develop a phage-assisted noncontinuous evolution (PANCE) selection for variants of Bacillus methanolicus methanol dehydrogenase 2 (Bm Mdh2). Using this selection, we evolved Mdh2 variants with up to 3.5-fold improved Vmax. The mutations responsible for enhanced activity map to the predicted active site region homologous to that of type III iron-dependent alcohol dehydrogenases, suggesting a new critical region for future methanol dehydrogenase engineering strategies. Evolved Mdh2 variants enable twice as much 13C-methanol assimilation into central metabolites than previously reported state-of-the-art methanol dehydrogenases. This work provides improved Mdh2 variants and establishes a laboratory evolution approach for metabolic pathways in bacterial cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Timothy B. Roth
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
| | - Benjamin M. Woolston
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - Gregory Stephanopoulos
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - David R. Liu
- Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, United States
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62
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Wang X, Wang X, Lu X, Ma C, Chen K, Ouyang P. Methanol fermentation increases the production of NAD(P)H-dependent chemicals in synthetic methylotrophic Escherichia coli. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS 2019; 12:17. [PMID: 30679956 PMCID: PMC6340170 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-019-1356-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 01/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Methanol has attracted increased attention as a non-food alternative carbon source to sugar for biological production of chemicals and fuels. Moreover, the high degree of reduction of methanol offers some advantages in increasing the production yields of NAD(P)H-dependent metabolites. Here, we demonstrate an example of methanol bioconversion with the aim of improving production of NAD(P)H-dependent chemicals in synthetic methylotrophic Escherichia coli. RESULTS A synthetic methylotrophic E. coli was engineered with a nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD+)-dependent methanol dehydrogenase (MDH) and ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) pathway. Regarding the limited MDH activity, the role of activator proteins in vivo was investigated, and the NudF protein was identified capable of improving MDH activity and triggering increased methanol metabolism. Using 13C-methanol-labeling experiments, we confirmed methanol assimilation in the methylotrophic E. coli. A cycling RuMP pathway for methanol assimilation was also demonstrated by detecting multiple labeled carbons for several compounds. Finally, using the NAD(P)H-dependent metabolite lysine as a test, the potential of methanol bioconversion to generate value-added metabolites was determined. To further characterize the benefit of methanol as the carbon source, extra NADH from methanol oxidation was engineered to generate NADPH to improve lysine biosynthesis by expression of the POS5 gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which resulted in a twofold improvement of lysine production. Moreover, this new sink further pulled upstream methanol utilization. CONCLUSION Through engineering methanol metabolism, lysine biosynthesis, and NADPH regeneration pathway from NADH, the bioconversion of methanol to improve chemical synthesis was successfully achieved in methylotrophic E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
| | - Xuelin Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
| | - Xiaolu Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
| | - Chen Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
| | - Kequan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
| | - Pingkai Ouyang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816 Jiangsu China
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63
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How adaptive evolution reshapes metabolism to improve fitness: recent advances and future outlook. Curr Opin Chem Eng 2018; 22:209-215. [PMID: 30613467 DOI: 10.1016/j.coche.2018.11.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) has emerged as a powerful tool in basic microbial research and strain development. In the context of metabolic science and engineering, it has been applied to study gene knockout responses, expand substrate ranges, improve tolerance to process conditions, and to improve productivity via designed growth coupling. In recent years, advancements in ALE methods and systems biology measurement technologies, particularly genome sequencing and 13C metabolic flux analysis (13C-MFA), have enabled detailed study of the mechanisms and dynamics of evolving metabolism. In this review, we discuss a range of studies that have applied flux analysis to adaptively evolved strains, as well as modeling frameworks developed to predict and interpret evolved fluxes. These efforts link mutations to fitness-enhanced phenotypes, identify bottlenecks and approaches to resolve them, and address systems concepts such as optimality.
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64
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Fan L, Wang Y, Tuyishime P, Gao N, Li Q, Zheng P, Sun J, Ma Y. Engineering Artificial Fusion Proteins for Enhanced Methanol Bioconversion. Chembiochem 2018; 19:2465-2471. [DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201800424] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2018] [Revised: 09/14/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Liwen Fan
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of Science and Technology of China Hefei 230026 China
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
| | - Yu Wang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
| | - Philibert Tuyishime
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Ning Gao
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing 100049 China
| | - Qinggang Li
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
| | - Ping Zheng
- School of Life SciencesUniversity of Science and Technology of China Hefei 230026 China
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
| | - Jibin Sun
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
| | - Yanhe Ma
- Tianjin Institute of Industrial BiotechnologyChinese Academy of Sciences Tianjin 300308 China
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65
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A modified serine cycle in Escherichia coli coverts methanol and CO 2 to two-carbon compounds. Nat Commun 2018; 9:3992. [PMID: 30266898 PMCID: PMC6162302 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06496-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 83] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2017] [Accepted: 09/07/2018] [Indexed: 11/08/2022] Open
Abstract
Microbial utilization of renewable one-carbon compounds, such as methane, methanol, formic acid, and CO2, has emerged as a potential approach to increase the range of carbon sources for bioproduction and address climate change issues. Here, we modify the natural serine cycle present in methylotrophs and build an adapted pathway for Escherichia coli, which allows microorganism to condense methanol (or formate) together with bicarbonate to produce various products. We introduce the modified cycle into E. coli and demonstrate its capability for one-carbon assimilation through growth complementation and isotope labeling experiments. We also demonstrate conversion of methanol to ethanol by utilizing the modified serine cycle in an engineered E. coli strain, achieving a reaction yet to be accomplished by a one-pot chemical process. This work provides a platform to utilize various renewable one-carbon compounds as carbon sources for biosynthesis through a modified serine cycle in E. coli.
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