1
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Liu Y, Xue B, Liu H, Wang S, Su H. Rational construction of synthetic consortia: Key considerations and model-based methods for guiding the development of a novel biosynthesis platform. Biotechnol Adv 2024; 72:108348. [PMID: 38531490 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/04/2024] [Revised: 03/07/2024] [Accepted: 03/13/2024] [Indexed: 03/28/2024]
Abstract
The rapid development of synthetic biology has significantly improved the capabilities of mono-culture systems in converting different substrates into various value-added bio-chemicals through metabolic engineering. However, overexpression of biosynthetic pathways in recombinant strains can impose a heavy metabolic burden on the host, resulting in imbalanced energy distribution and negatively affecting both cell growth and biosynthesis capacity. Synthetic consortia, consisting of two or more microbial species or strains with complementary functions, have emerged as a promising and efficient platform to alleviate the metabolic burden and increase product yield. However, research on synthetic consortia is still in its infancy, with numerous challenges regarding the design and construction of stable synthetic consortia. This review provides a comprehensive comparison of the advantages and disadvantages of mono-culture systems and synthetic consortia. Key considerations for engineering synthetic consortia based on recent advances are summarized, and simulation and computational tools for guiding the advancement of synthetic consortia are discussed. Moreover, further development of more efficient and cost-effective synthetic consortia with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning is highlighted.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yu Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China
| | - Boyuan Xue
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China
| | - Hao Liu
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China
| | - Shaojie Wang
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
| | - Haijia Su
- Beijing Key Laboratory of Bioprocess, Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, People's Republic of China.
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2
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Sui X, Wang J, Zhao Z, Liu B, Liu M, Liu M, Shi C, Feng X, Fu Y, Shi D, Li S, Qi Q, Xian M, Zhao G. Phenolic compounds induce ferroptosis-like death by promoting hydroxyl radical generation in the Fenton reaction. Commun Biol 2024; 7:199. [PMID: 38368473 PMCID: PMC10874397 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-024-05903-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2023] [Accepted: 02/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/19/2024] Open
Abstract
Phenolic compounds are industrially versatile chemicals, also the most ubiquitous pollutants. Recently, biosynthesis and biodegradation of phenols has attracted increasing attention, while phenols' toxicity is a major issue. Here, we evolved phloroglucinol-tolerant Escherichia coli strains via adaptive evolution, and three mutations (ΔsodB, ΔclpX and fetAB overexpression) prove of great assistance in the tolerance improvement. We discover that phloroglucinol complexes with iron and promotes the generation of hydroxyl radicals in Fenton reaction, which leads to reducing power depletion, lipid peroxidation, and ferroptosis-like cell death of E. coli. Besides phloroglucinol, various phenols can trigger ferroptosis-like death in diverse organisms, from bacteria to mammalian cells. Furthermore, repressing this ferroptosis-like death improves phloroglucinol production and phenol degradation by corresponding strains respectively, showing great application potential in microbial degradation or production of desired phenolic compounds, and phloroglucinol-induced ferroptosis suppresses tumor growth in mice, indicating phloroglucinol as a promising drug for cancer treatment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xinyue Sui
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Jichao Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Zhiqiang Zhao
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Bin Liu
- TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Miaomiao Liu
- TEDA Institute of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Nankai University, Tianjin, China
| | - Min Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Cong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Xinjun Feng
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Yingxin Fu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Dayong Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Shengying Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Qingsheng Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China
| | - Mo Xian
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
| | - Guang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology and Institute of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
- CAS Key Lab of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China.
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3
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Nurwono G, O'Keeffe S, Liu N, Park JO. Sustainable metabolic engineering requires a perfect trifecta. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2023; 83:102983. [PMID: 37573625 PMCID: PMC10960266 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2023.102983] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/03/2023] [Revised: 07/10/2023] [Accepted: 07/15/2023] [Indexed: 08/15/2023]
Abstract
The versatility of cellular metabolism in converting various substrates to products inspires sustainable alternatives to conventional chemical processes. Metabolism can be engineered to maximize the yield, rate, and titer of product generation. However, the numerous combinations of substrate, product, and organism make metabolic engineering projects difficult to navigate. A perfect trifecta of substrate, product, and organism is prerequisite for an environmentally and economically sustainable metabolic engineering endeavor. As a step toward this endeavor, we propose a reverse engineering strategy that starts with product selection, followed by substrate and organism pairing. While a large bioproduct space has been explored, the top-ten compounds have been synthesized mainly using glucose and model organisms. Unconventional feedstocks (e.g. hemicellulosic sugars and CO2) and non-model organisms are increasingly gaining traction for advanced bioproduct synthesis due to their specialized metabolic modes. Judicious selection of the substrate-organism-product combination will illuminate the untapped territory of sustainable metabolic engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Samantha O'Keeffe
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Nian Liu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
| | - Junyoung O Park
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
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4
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Coculture engineering for efficient production of vanillyl alcohol in Escherichia coli. ABIOTECH 2022; 3:292-300. [PMID: 36533265 PMCID: PMC9755795 DOI: 10.1007/s42994-022-00079-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/11/2022] [Accepted: 08/22/2022] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
Vanillyl alcohol is a precursor of vanillin, which is one of the most widely used flavor compounds. Currently, vanillyl alcohol biosynthesis still encounters the problem of low efficiency. In this study, coculture engineering was adopted to improve production efficiency of vanillyl alcohol in E. coli. First, two pathways were compared for biosynthesis of the immediate precursor 3, 4-dihydroxybenzyl alcohol in monocultures, and the 3-dehydroshikimate-derived pathway showed higher efficiency than the 4-hydroxybenzoate-derived pathway. To enhance the efficiency of the last methylation step, two strategies were used, and strengthening S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) regeneration showed positive effect while strengthening SAM biosynthesis showed negative effect. Then, the optimized pathway was assembled in a single cell. However, the biosynthetic efficiency was still low, and was not significantly improved by modular optimization of pathway genes. Thus, coculturing engineering strategy was adopted. At the optimal inoculation ratio, the titer reached 328.9 mg/L. Further, gene aroE was knocked out to reduce cell growth and improve 3,4-DHBA biosynthesis of the upstream strain. As a result, the titer was improved to 559.4 mg/L in shake flasks and to 3.89 g/L in fed-batch fermentation. These are the highest reported titers of vanillyl alcohol so far. This work provides an effective strategy for sustainable production of vanillyl alcohol.
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5
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Rafieenia R, Atkinson E, Ledesma-Amaro R. Division of labor for substrate utilization in natural and synthetic microbial communities. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2022; 75:102706. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2022.102706] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 02/07/2022] [Accepted: 02/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/30/2023]
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6
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Metabolite-based biosensors for natural product discovery and overproduction. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2022; 75:102699. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2022.102699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2021] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/05/2022] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
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7
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Biosensor-enabled pathway optimization in metabolic engineering. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2022; 75:102696. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2022.102696] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/23/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 01/25/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023]
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8
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Thuan NH, Tatipamula VB, Canh NX, Van Giang N. Recent advances in microbial co-culture for production of value-added compounds. 3 Biotech 2022; 12:115. [PMID: 35547018 PMCID: PMC9018925 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-022-03177-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/28/2021] [Accepted: 03/31/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Micro-organisms have often been used to produce bioactive compounds as antibiotics, antifungals, and anti-tumors, etc. due to their easy and applicable culture, genetic manipulation, and extraction, etc. Mainly, microbial mono-cultures have been applied to produce value-added compounds and gotten numerous valuable results. However, mono-culture also has several complicated problems, such as metabolic burdens affecting the growth and development of the host, leading to a decrease in titer of the target compound. To circumvent those limitations, microbial co-culture has been technically developed and gained much interest compared to mono-culture. For example, co-culture simplifies the design of artificial biosynthetic pathways and restricts the recombinant host's metabolic burden, causing increased titer of desired compounds. This paper summarizes the recent advanced progress in applying microbial platform co-culture to produce natural products, such as flavonoid, terpenoid, alkaloid, etc. Furthermore, importantly different strategies for enhancing production, overcoming the metabolic burdens, building autonomous modulation of cell growth rate and culture composition in response to a quorum-sensing signal, etc., were also described in detail.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nguyen Huy Thuan
- Center for Molecular Biology, Duy Tan University, Da Nang, 550000 Vietnam
| | | | - Nguyen Xuan Canh
- Faculty of Biotechnology, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Gialam, Hanoi Vietnam
| | - Nguyen Van Giang
- Faculty of Biotechnology, Vietnam National University of Agriculture, Gialam, Hanoi Vietnam
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9
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Using nanomaterials to increase the efficiency of chemical production in microbial cell factories: A comprehensive review. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 59:107982. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.107982] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2022] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
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10
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VanArsdale E, Pitzer J, Wang S, Stephens K, Chen CY, Payne GF, Bentley WE. Electrogenetic Signal Transmission and Propagation in Coculture to Guide Production of a Small Molecule, Tyrosine. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:877-887. [PMID: 35113532 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00522] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
There are many strategies to actuate and control genetic circuits, including providing stimuli like exogenous chemical inducers, light, magnetic fields, and even applied voltage, that are orthogonal to metabolic activity. Their use enables actuation of gene expression for the production of small molecules and proteins in many contexts. Additionally, there are a growing number of reports wherein cocultures, consortia, or even complex microbiomes are employed for the production of biologics, taking advantage of an expanded array of biological function. Combining stimuli-responsive engineered cell populations enhances design space but increases complexity. In this work, we co-opt nature's redox networks and electrogenetically route control signals into a consortium of microbial cells engineered to produce a model small molecule, tyrosine. In particular, we show how electronically programmed short-lived signals (i.e., hydrogen peroxide) can be transformed by one population and propagated into sustained longer-distance signals that, in turn, guide tyrosine production in a second population building on bacterial quorum sensing that coordinates their collective behavior. Two design methodologies are demonstrated. First, we use electrogenetics to transform redox signals into the quorum sensing autoinducer, AI-1, that, in turn, induces a tyrosine biosynthesis pathway transformed into a second population. Second, we use the electrogenetically stimulated AI-1 to actuate expression of ptsH, boosting the growth rate of tyrosine-producing cells, augmenting both their number and metabolic activity. In both cases, we show how signal propagation within the coculture helps to ensure tyrosine production. We suggest that this work lays a foundation for employing electrochemical stimuli and engineered cocultures for production of molecular products in biomanufacturing environments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric VanArsdale
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Juliana Pitzer
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Sally Wang
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Kristina Stephens
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Chen-yu Chen
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - Gregory F. Payne
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
| | - William E. Bentley
- Fischell Department of Bioengineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
- Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland 20742, United States
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11
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Liao YL, Niu FX, Liu JZ. Recent Progress in Microbial Biosynthesis by Coculture Engineering. APPL BIOCHEM MICRO+ 2021. [DOI: 10.1134/s0003683821100033] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
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12
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Utilizing a tyrosine exporter to facilitate 4-hydroxystyrene biosynthesis in an E. coli-E. coli co-culture. Biochem Eng J 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2021.108178] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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13
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Chen T, Wang X, Zhuang L, Shao A, Lu Y, Zhang H. Development and optimization of a microbial co-culture system for heterologous indigo biosynthesis. Microb Cell Fact 2021; 20:154. [PMID: 34348711 PMCID: PMC8336371 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-021-01636-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2021] [Accepted: 07/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Indigo is a color molecule with a long history of being used as a textile dye. The conventional production methods are facing increasing economy, sustainability and environmental challenges. Therefore, developing a green synthesis method converting renewable feedstocks to indigo using engineered microbes is of great research and application interest. However, the efficiency of the indigo microbial biosynthesis is still low and needs to be improved by proper metabolic engineering strategies. Results In the present study, we adopted several metabolic engineering strategies to establish an efficient microbial biosynthesis system for converting renewable carbon substrates to indigo. First, a microbial co-culture was developed using two individually engineered E. coli strains to accommodate the indigo biosynthesis pathway, and the balancing of the overall pathway was achieved by manipulating the ratio of co-culture strains harboring different pathway modules. Through carbon source optimization and application of biosensor-assisted cell selection circuit, the indigo production was improved significantly. In addition, the global transcription machinery engineering (gTME) approach was utilized to establish a high-performance co-culture variant to further enhance the indigo production. Through the step-wise modification of the established system, the indigo bioproduction reached 104.3 mg/L, which was 11.4-fold higher than the parental indigo producing strain. Conclusion This work combines modular co-culture engineering, biosensing, and gTME for addressing the challenges of the indigo biosynthesis, which has not been explored before. The findings of this study confirm the effectiveness of the developed approach and offer a new perspective for efficient indigo bioproduction. More broadly, this innovative approach has the potential for wider application in future studies of other valuable biochemicals’ biosynthesis. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01636-w.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tingting Chen
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China.,Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Xiaonan Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Lei Zhuang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Alan Shao
- School of Arts and Sciences, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 77 Hamilton Street, New Brunswick, NJ, 08901, USA
| | - Yinghua Lu
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China.,The Key Lab for Synthetic Biotechnology of Xiamen City, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China.,Fujian Collaborative Innovation Center for Exploitation and Utilization of Marine Biological Resources, Xiamen University, Xiamen, 361005, Fujian, China
| | - Haoran Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA.
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14
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Developing an effective approach for microbial biosynthesis of hydroxyhydroquinone. Biochem Eng J 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bej.2021.107929] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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15
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Krieger AG, Zhang J, Lin XN. Temperature regulation as a tool to program synthetic microbial community composition. Biotechnol Bioeng 2021; 118:1381-1392. [PMID: 33399224 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27662] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2020] [Revised: 12/10/2020] [Accepted: 12/12/2020] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Abstract
Engineering of synthetic microbial communities is emerging as a powerful new paradigm for performing various industrially, medically, and environmentally important processes. To reach the fullest potential, however, this approach requires further development in many aspects, a key one being regulating the community composition. Here we leverage well-established mechanisms in ecology which govern the relative abundance of multispecies ecosystems and develop a new tool for programming the composition of synthetic microbial communities. Using a simple model system consisting of two microorganisms Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas putida, which occupy different but partially overlapping thermal niches, we demonstrated that temperature regulation could be used to enable coexistence and program the community composition. We first investigated a constant temperature regime and showed that different temperatures led to different community compositions. Next, we invented a new cycling temperature regime and showed that it can dynamically tune the microbial community, achieving a wide range of compositions depending on parameters that are readily manipulatable. Our work provides conclusive proof of concept that temperature regulation is a versatile and powerful tool capable of programming compositions of synthetic microbial communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adam G Krieger
- Cellular and Molecular Biology Program, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Jiahao Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
| | - Xiaoxia N Lin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
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16
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Hartline CJ, Schmitz AC, Han Y, Zhang F. Dynamic control in metabolic engineering: Theories, tools, and applications. Metab Eng 2021; 63:126-140. [PMID: 32927059 PMCID: PMC8015268 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.08.015] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 24.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2020] [Revised: 08/15/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Metabolic engineering has allowed the production of a diverse number of valuable chemicals using microbial organisms. Many biological challenges for improving bio-production exist which limit performance and slow the commercialization of metabolically engineered systems. Dynamic metabolic engineering is a rapidly developing field that seeks to address these challenges through the design of genetically encoded metabolic control systems which allow cells to autonomously adjust their flux in response to their external and internal metabolic state. This review first discusses theoretical works which provide mechanistic insights and design choices for dynamic control systems including two-stage, continuous, and population behavior control strategies. Next, we summarize molecular mechanisms for various sensors and actuators which enable dynamic metabolic control in microbial systems. Finally, important applications of dynamic control to the production of several metabolite products are highlighted, including fatty acids, aromatics, and terpene compounds. Altogether, this review provides a comprehensive overview of the progress, advances, and prospects in the design of dynamic control systems for improved titer, rate, and yield metrics in metabolic engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christopher J Hartline
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Alexander C Schmitz
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Yichao Han
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA
| | - Fuzhong Zhang
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA; Division of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA; Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, Saint Louis, MO, 63130, USA.
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17
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Partners for life: building microbial consortia for the future. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2020; 66:292-300. [PMID: 33202280 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.10.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/22/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
New technologies have allowed researchers to better design, build, and analyze complex consortia. These developments are fueling a wider implementation of consortium-based bioprocessing by leveraging synthetic biology, delivering on the field's multitudinous promises of higher efficiencies, superior resiliency, augmented capabilities, and modular bioprocessing. Here we chronicle current progress by presenting a range of screening, computational, and biomolecular tools enabling robust population control, efficient division of labor, and programmatic spatial organization; furthermore, we detail corresponding advancements in areas including machine learning, biocontainment, and standardization. Additionally, we show applications in myriad sectors, including medicine, energy and waste sustainability, chemical production, agriculture, and biosensors. Concluding remarks outline areas of growth that will promote the utilization of complex community structures across the biotechnology spectrum.
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18
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Han Y, Zhang F. Control strategies to manage trade-offs during microbial production. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2020; 66:158-164. [PMID: 32810759 PMCID: PMC8021483 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
When engineering microbes to overproduce a target molecule, engineers face multiple layers of trade-offs to allocate limited cellular resources between the target pathway and native cellular systems. These trade-offs arise from limited free ribosomes during translation, competition for metabolic precursors, as well as the negative relationship between production and growth rate. To achieve high production performance, microbes need to spontaneously make decisions in the dynamic and heterogeneous fermentation environment. In this review, we discuss recent advances in microbial control strategies that are used to manage these trade-offs and to improve microbial production. This review focuses on design principles and compares different implementations, with the hope to provide guidelines to future microbial engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichao Han
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Fuzhong Zhang
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; Division of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
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Li Z, Zuber A, Wang X, Marlowe J, Vekaria A, Lu Y, Zhang H, Tsilomelekis G. Toward the coupling of microbial biosynthesis and catalysis for the production of alkylated phenolic compounds. AIChE J 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/aic.16547] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zhenghong Li
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Adam Zuber
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Xiaonan Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Justin Marlowe
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Ashil Vekaria
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Yingxi Lu
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - Haoran Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
| | - George Tsilomelekis
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers The State University of New Jersey Piscataway New Jersey USA
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Wang X, Policarpio L, Prajapati D, Li Z, Zhang H. Developing E. coli-E. coli co-cultures to overcome barriers of heterologous tryptamine biosynthesis. Metab Eng Commun 2020; 10:e00110. [PMID: 31853442 PMCID: PMC6911970 DOI: 10.1016/j.mec.2019.e00110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2019] [Revised: 10/28/2019] [Accepted: 11/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
Tryptamine is an alkaloid compound with demonstrated bioactivities and is also a precursor molecule to many important hormones and neurotransmitters. The high efficiency biosynthesis of tryptamine from inexpensive and renewable carbon substrates is of great research and application significance. In the present study, a tryptamine biosynthesis pathway was established in a metabolically engineered E. coli-E. coli co-culture. The upstream and downstream strains of the co-culture were dedicated to tryptophan provision and conversion to tryptamine, respectively. The constructed co-culture was cultivated using either glucose or glycerol as carbon source for de novo production of tryptamine. The manipulation of the co-culture strains' inoculation ratio was adapted to balance the biosynthetic strengths of the pathway modules for bioproduction optimization. Moreover, a biosensor-assisted cell selection strategy was adapted to improve the pathway intermediate tryptophan provision by the upstream strain, which further enhanced the tryptamine biosynthesis. The resulting biosensor-assisted modular co-culture produced 194 mg/L tryptamine with a yield of 0.02 g/g glucose using shake flask cultivation. The findings of this work demonstrate that the biosensor-assisted modular co-culture engineering offers a new perspective for conducting microbial biosynthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Haoran Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, 98 Brett Rd, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
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Wang X, Li Z, Policarpio L, Koffas MAG, Zhang H. De novo biosynthesis of complex natural product sakuranetin using modular co-culture engineering. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104:4849-4861. [PMID: 32285175 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10576-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2020] [Revised: 03/08/2020] [Accepted: 03/22/2020] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
Flavonoids are a large family of plant and fungal natural products, among which many have been found to possess outstanding biological activities. Utilization of engineered microbes as surrogate hosts for heterologous biosynthesis of flavonoids has been investigated extensively. However, current microbial biosynthesis strategies mostly rely on using one microbial strain to accommodate the long and complicated flavonoid pathways, which presents a major challenge for production optimization. Here, we adapt the emerging modular co-culture engineering approach to rationally design, establish and optimize an Escherichia coli co-culture for de novo biosynthesis of flavonoid sakuranetin from simple carbon substrate glucose. Specifically, two E. coli strains were employed to accommodate the sakuranetin biosynthesis pathway. The upstream strain was engineered for pathway intermediate p-coumaric acid production, whereas the downstream strain converted p-coumaric acid to sakuranetin. Through step-wise optimization of the co-culture system, we were able to produce 29.7 mg/L sakuranetin from 5 g/L glucose within 48 h, which is significantly higher than the production by the conventional monoculture-based approach. The co-culture biosynthesis was successfully scaled up in a fed-batch bioreactor, resulting in the production of 79.0 mg/L sakuranetin. To our knowledge, this is the highest bioproduction concentration reported so far for de novo sakuranetin biosynthesis using the heterologous host E. coli. The findings of this work expand the applicability of modular co-culture engineering for addressing the challenges associated with heterologous biosynthesis of complex natural products. KEY POINTS: • De novo biosynthesis of sakuranetin was achieved using E. coli-E. coli co-cultures. • Sakuranetin production by co-cultures was significantly higher than the mono-culture controls. • The co-culture system was optimized by multiple metabolic engineering strategies. • The co-culture biosynthesis was scaled up in fed-batch bioreactor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaonan Wang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Zhenghong Li
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Lizelle Policarpio
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA
| | - Mattheos A G Koffas
- Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA.,Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY, 12180, USA
| | - Haoran Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA.
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