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Pandey RP, Casini A, Voigt CA, Gordon DB. Four-Step Pathway from Phenylpyruvate to Benzylamine, an Intermediate to the High-Energy Propellant CL-20. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:2187-2196. [PMID: 34491727 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00021] [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: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Benzylamine is a commodity chemical used in the synthesis of motion-sickness treatments and anticonvulsants, in dyeing textiles, and as a precursor to the high-energy propellant CL-20. Because chemical production generates toxic waste streams, biosynthetic alternatives have been explored, recently resulting in a functional nine-step pathway from central metabolism (phenylalanine) in E. coli. We report a novel four-step pathway for benzylamine production, which generates the product from cellular phenylpyruvate using enzymes from different sources: a mandelate synthase (Amycolatopsis orientalis), a mandelate oxidase (Streptomyces coelicolor), a benzoylformate decarboxylase (Pseudomonas putida), and an aminotransferase (Salicibacter pomeroyi). This pathway produces benzylamine at 24 mg/L in 15 h (4.5% yield) in cultures of unoptimized cells supplemented with phenylpyruvate. Because the yield is low, supplementation with pathway intermediates is used to troubleshoot the design. This identifies conversion inefficiencies in the mandelate synthase-mediated synthesis of (S)-mandelic acid, and subsequent genome mining identifies a new mandelate synthase (Streptomyces sp. 1114.5) with improved yield. Supplementation experiments also reveal native redirection of ambient phenylpyruvate away from the pathway to phenylalanine. Overall, this work illustrates how retrosynthetic design can dramatically reduce the number of enzymes in a pathway, potentially reducing its draw on cellular resources. However, it also shows that such benefits can be abrogated by inefficiencies of individual conversions. Addressing these barriers can provide an alternative approach to green production of benzylamine, eliminating upstream dependence on chlorination chemistry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ramesh Prasad Pandey
- Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Arturo Casini
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Christopher A. Voigt
- Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - D. Benjamin Gordon
- Synthetic Biology Center, Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, United States
- The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
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Zhu Y, Yang T, Chen Y, Fan C, Yuan J. One‐Pot Synthesis of Aromatic Amines from Renewable Feedstocks via Whole‐Cell Biocatalysis. ChemistrySelect 2020. [DOI: 10.1002/slct.202003807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Yuling Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University Fujian 361102 PR China
| | - Taiwei Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University Fujian 361102 PR China
| | - Yueyang Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University Fujian 361102 PR China
| | - Cong Fan
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University Fujian 361102 PR China
| | - Jifeng Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Cellular Stress Biology School of Life Sciences, Xiamen University Fujian 361102 PR China
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Zhou Y, Wu S, Mao J, Li Z. Bioproduction of Benzylamine from Renewable Feedstocks via a Nine-Step Artificial Enzyme Cascade and Engineered Metabolic Pathways. CHEMSUSCHEM 2018; 11:2221-2228. [PMID: 29766662 DOI: 10.1002/cssc.201800709] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Production of chemicals from renewable feedstocks has been an important task for sustainable chemical industry. Although microbial fermentation has been widely employed to produce many biochemicals, it is still very challenging to access non-natural chemicals. Two methods (biotransformation and fermentation) have been developed for the first bio-derived synthesis of benzylamine, a commodity non-natural amine with broad applications. Firstly, a nine-step artificial enzyme cascade was designed by biocatalytic retrosynthetic analysis and engineered in recombinant E. coli LZ243. Biotransformation of l-phenylalanine (60 mm) with the E. coli cells produced benzylamine (42 mm) in 70 % conversion. Importantly, the cascade biotransformation was scaled up to 100 mL and benzylamine was successfully isolated in 57 % yield. Secondly, an artificial biosynthesis pathway to benzylamine from glucose was developed by combining the nine-step cascade with an enhanced l-phenylalanine synthesis pathway in cells. Fermentation with E. coli LZ249 gave benzylamine in 4.3 mm concentration from glucose. In addition, one-pot syntheses of several useful benzylamines from the easily available styrenes were achieved, representing a new type of alkene transformation by formal oxidative cleavage and reductive amination.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi Zhou
- Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117456, Singapore
| | - Shuke Wu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore
- Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117456, Singapore
| | - Jiwei Mao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore
| | - Zhi Li
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore, 117585, Singapore
- Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore, 117456, Singapore
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Shanmugam SR, Adhikari S, Wang Z, Shakya R. Treatment of aqueous phase of bio-oil by granular activated carbon and evaluation of biogas production. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2017; 223:115-120. [PMID: 27788424 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2016.10.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2016] [Revised: 09/29/2016] [Accepted: 10/02/2016] [Indexed: 06/06/2023]
Abstract
Hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass such as algae is a promising thermochemical process for the production of bio-oil. Bio-oil aqueous phase generated during liquefaction process is rich in complex organics and can be utilized for biogas production following its pre-treatment with granular activated carbon. In our study, use of 30% activated carbon resulted in higher chemical oxygen demand (COD) reduction (53±0.3%) from aqueous phase. Higher CH4 production (84±12mL/gCOD) was also observed in 30% carbon-treated aqueous phase fed cultures, whereas only 32±6mLCH4/gCOD was observed in control (non-carbon treated) cultures. The results from this study indicate that almost 67±0.3% initial COD of aqueous phase can be reduced using a combination of both carbon treatment and biogas production. This study shows that aqueous phase can be utilized for CH4 production.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sushil Adhikari
- Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 USA.
| | - Zhouhang Wang
- Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 USA
| | - Rajdeep Shakya
- Department of Biosystems Engineering, Auburn University, Auburn, AL 36849 USA
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Hai FI, Li X, Price WE, Nghiem LD. Removal of carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole by MBR under anoxic and aerobic conditions. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2011; 102:10386-10390. [PMID: 21963248 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2011.09.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/21/2011] [Revised: 09/04/2011] [Accepted: 09/06/2011] [Indexed: 05/31/2023]
Abstract
This study reveals for the first time that near-anoxic conditions (dissolved oxygen, DO=0.5 mg/L) can be a favorable operating regime for the removal of the persistent micropollutant carbamazepine by MBR treatment. The removal efficiencies of carbamazepine and sulfamethoxazole by an MBR were systematically examined and compared under near-anoxic (DO=0.5 mg/L) and aerobic (DO>2 mg/L) conditions. Preliminary batch tests confirmed that sulfamethoxazole is amenable to both aerobic and anoxic biotransformation. However, carbamazepine-a known persistent compound-showed degradation only under an anoxic environment. In good agreement with the batch tests, during near-anoxic operation, under a high loading of 750 μg/Ld, an exceptionally high removal (68±10%) of carbamazepine was achieved. In contrast, low removal efficiency (12±11%) of carbamazepine was observed during operation under aerobic conditions. On the other hand, an average removal efficiency of 65% of sulfamethoxazole was achieved irrespective of the DO concentrations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Faisal I Hai
- Strategic Water Infrastructure Laboratory, School of Civil Mining and Environmental Engineering, The University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
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Woodley JM. New opportunities for biocatalysis: making pharmaceutical processes greener. Trends Biotechnol 2008; 26:321-7. [PMID: 18436317 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2008.03.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 343] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2007] [Revised: 02/29/2008] [Accepted: 03/10/2008] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
The pharmaceutical industry requires synthetic routes to be environmentally compatible as well as to fulfill the demands of process economics and product specification and to continually reduce development times. Biocatalysis has the potential to deliver 'greener' chemical syntheses, and in this review some of these opportunities are outlined and outstanding challenges presented. Future development will require research targeted towards increased commercial availability of key enzymes, as well as the improvement of enzyme stability and substrate repertoire, to fully realize the potential of biocatalysis for making pharmaceutical processes greener.
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Affiliation(s)
- John M Woodley
- Center for BioProcess Engineering, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, DK-2800 Lyngby, Denmark.
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Rodriguez Martinez MF, Kelessidou N, Law Z, Gardiner J, Stephens G. Effect of solvents on obligately anaerobic bacteria. Anaerobe 2007; 14:55-60. [PMID: 18083050 DOI: 10.1016/j.anaerobe.2007.09.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2006] [Revised: 08/21/2007] [Accepted: 09/21/2007] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Growth of Acetobacterium woodii and Clostridium sporogenes was studied in the presence of water-immiscible solvents. Nitrogen purging, vacuum distillation or distillation under nitrogen were all suitable as methods to remove oxygen from the solvents, since growth rates and yields of A. woodii were unaffected in the presence of tetradecane which had been degassed by these methods. Varying the solvent volume from 20% to 80% of the culture volume had little effect on growth rate of A. woodii. A.woodii was relatively sensitive to organic solvents since growth was inhibited by alkanes with logP(octanol/water) values below 7.1. C. sporogenes was less solvent sensitive, since it grew without inhibition when the logP of the solvent was > or = 6.6. Nevertheless, both A. woodii and C. sporogenes were more sensitive to solvent polarity than aerobic bacteria.
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