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Li J, Gao J, Ye M, Cai P, Yu W, Zhai X, Zhou YJ. Engineering yeast for high-level production of β-farnesene from sole methanol. Metab Eng 2024; 85:194-200. [PMID: 39181436 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2024.08.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2024] [Revised: 08/14/2024] [Accepted: 08/21/2024] [Indexed: 08/27/2024]
Abstract
Methanol, a rich one-carbon feedstock, can be massively produced from CO2 by the liquid sunshine route, which is helpful to realize carbon neutrality. β-Farnesene is widely used in the production of polymers, surfactants, lubricants, and also serves as a suitable substitute for jet fuel. Constructing an efficient cell factory is a feasible approach for β-farnesene production through methanol biotransformation. Here, we extensively engineered the methylotrophic yeast Ogataea polymorpha for the efficient bio-production of β-farnesene using methanol as the sole carbon source. Our study demonstrated that sufficient supply of precursor acetyl-CoA and cofactor NADPH in an excellent yeast chassis had a 1.3-fold higher β-farnesene production than that of wild-type background strain. Further optimization of the mevalonate pathway and enhancement of acetyl-CoA supply led to a 7-fold increase in β-farnesene accumulation, achieving the highest reported sesquiterpenoids production (14.7 g/L with a yield of 46 mg/g methanol) from one-carbon feedstock under fed-batch fermentation in bioreactor. This study demonstrates the great potential of engineering O. polymorpha for high-level terpenoid production from methanol.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingjing Li
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Jiaoqi Gao
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; Dalian Key Laboratory of Energy Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Min Ye
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Peng Cai
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Wei Yu
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Xiaoxin Zhai
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China
| | - Yongjin J Zhou
- Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; CAS Key Laboratory of Separation Science for Analytical Chemistry, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China; Dalian Key Laboratory of Energy Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, 116023, China.
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Zhang S, Zhang J, Lin R, Lu C, Fang B, Shi J, Jiang T, Zhou M. Design and construction of light-regulated gene transcription and protein translation systems in yeast P. Pastoris. J Adv Res 2024:S2090-1232(24)00330-8. [PMID: 39117107 DOI: 10.1016/j.jare.2024.08.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2024] [Revised: 04/17/2024] [Accepted: 08/04/2024] [Indexed: 08/10/2024] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION P. pastoris is a common host for effective biosynthesis of heterologous proteins as well as small molecules. Accurate regulation of gene transcription and protein synthesis is necessary to coordinate synthetic gene circuits and optimize cellular energy distribution. Traditional methanol or other inducible promoters, natural or engineered, have defects in either fermentation safety or expression capacity. The utilization of chemical inducers typically adds complexity to the product purification process, but there is no other well-controlled protein synthesis system than promoters yet. OBJECTIVE The study aimed to address the aforementioned challenges by constructing light-regulated gene transcription and protein translation systems with excellent expression capacity and light sensitivity. METHODS Trans-acting factors were designed by linking the N. crassa blue-light sensor WC-1 with the activation domain of endogenous transcription factors. Light inducible or repressive promoters were then constructed through chimeric design of cis-elements (light-responsive elements, LREs) and endogenous promoters. Various configurations of trans-acting factor/LRE pairs, along with different LRE positions and copy numbers were tested for optimal promoter performance. In addition to transcription, a light-repressive translation system was constructed through the "rare codon brake" design. Rare codons were deliberately utilized to serve as brakes during protein synthesis, which were switched on and off through the light-regulated changes in the expression of the corresponding pLRE-tRNA. RESULTS As demonstrated with GFP, the light-inducible promoter 4pLRE-cPAOX1 was 70 % stronger than the constitutive promoter PGAP, with L/D ratio = 77. The light-repressive promoter PGAP-pLRE was strictly suppressed by light, with expression capacity comparable with PGAP in darkness. As for the light-repressive translation system, the "triple brake" design successfully eliminated leakage and achieved light repression on protein synthesis without any impact on mRNA expression. CONCLUSION The newly designed light-regulated transcription and translation systems offer innovative tools that optimize the application of P. pastoris in biotechnology and synthetic biology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Jiazhen Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Ru Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Chaoyu Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Bohao Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Jiacheng Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China
| | - Tianyi Jiang
- China Innovation Center of Roche, Shanghai 201203, China
| | - Mian Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China.
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Bysani VR, Alam AS, Bar-Even A, Machens F. Engineering and evolution of the complete Reductive Glycine Pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for formate and CO 2 assimilation. Metab Eng 2024; 81:167-181. [PMID: 38040111 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2023.11.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/20/2023] [Revised: 11/08/2023] [Accepted: 11/25/2023] [Indexed: 12/03/2023]
Abstract
Using captured CO2 and C1-feedstocks like formate and methanol derived from electrochemical activation of CO2 are key solutions for transforming industrial processes towards a circular carbon economy. Engineering formate and CO2-based growth in the biotechnologically relevant yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae could boost the emergence of a formate-mediated circular bio-economy. This study adopts a growth-coupled selection scheme for modular implementation of the Reductive Glycine Pathway (RGP) and subsequent Adaptive Laboratory Evolution (ALE) to enable formate and CO2 assimilation for biomass formation in yeast. We first constructed a serine biosensor strain and then implemented the serine synthesis module of the RGP into yeast, establishing glycine and serine synthesis from formate and CO2. ALE improved the RGP-dependent growth by 8-fold. 13C-labeling experiments reveal glycine, serine, and pyruvate synthesis via the RGP, demonstrating the complete pathway activity. Further, we re-established formate and CO2-dependent growth in non-evolved biosensor strains via reverse-engineering a mutation in GDH1 identified from ALE. This mutation led to significantly more 13C-formate assimilation than in WT without any selection or overexpression of the RGP. Overall, we demonstrated the activity of the complete RGP, showing evidence for carbon transfer from formate to pyruvate coupled with CO2 assimilation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Viswanada R Bysani
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany.
| | - Ayesha S Alam
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Arren Bar-Even
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
| | - Fabian Machens
- Max Planck Institute of Molecular Plant Physiology, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476, Potsdam-Golm, Germany
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Wang D, Hu L, Xu R, Zhang W, Xiong H, Wang Y, Du G, Kang Z. Production of different molecular weight glycosaminoglycans with microbial cell factories. Enzyme Microb Technol 2023; 171:110324. [PMID: 37742407 DOI: 10.1016/j.enzmictec.2023.110324] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2023] [Revised: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/08/2023] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) are naturally occurring acidic polysaccharides with wide applications in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and health foods. The diverse biological activities and physiological functions of GAGs are closely associated with their molecular weights and sulfation patterns. Except for the non-sulfated hyaluronan which can be synthesized naturally by group A Streptococcus, all the other GAGs such as heparin and chondroitin sulfate are mainly acquired from animal tissues. Microbial cell factories provide a more effective platform for the production of structurally homogeneous GAGs. Enhancing the production efficiency of polysaccharides, accurately regulating the GAGs molecular weight, and effectively controlling the sulfation degree of GAGs represent the major challenges of developing GAGs microbial cell factories. Several enzymatic, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology strategies have been developed to tackle these obstacles and push forward the industrialization of biotechnologically produced GAGs. This review summarizes the recent advances in the construction of GAGs synthesis cell factories, regulation of GAG molecular weight, and modification of GAGs chains. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects for future research in this field are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daoan Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Litao Hu
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Ruirui Xu
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Weijiao Zhang
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Haibo Xiong
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Yang Wang
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Guocheng Du
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Zhen Kang
- The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; The Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Avenue, Wuxi 214122, China; Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, School of Biotechnology, Jiangnan University, 1800 Lihu Road, Wuxi 214122, China.
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Kurt E, Qin J, Williams A, Zhao Y, Xie D. Perspectives for Using CO 2 as a Feedstock for Biomanufacturing of Fuels and Chemicals. Bioengineering (Basel) 2023; 10:1357. [PMID: 38135948 PMCID: PMC10740661 DOI: 10.3390/bioengineering10121357] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Revised: 11/20/2023] [Accepted: 11/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023] Open
Abstract
Microbial cell factories offer an eco-friendly alternative for transforming raw materials into commercially valuable products because of their reduced carbon impact compared to conventional industrial procedures. These systems often depend on lignocellulosic feedstocks, mainly pentose and hexose sugars. One major hurdle when utilizing these sugars, especially glucose, is balancing carbon allocation to satisfy energy, cofactor, and other essential component needs for cellular proliferation while maintaining a robust yield. Nearly half or more of this carbon is inevitably lost as CO2 during the biosynthesis of regular metabolic necessities. This loss lowers the production yield and compromises the benefit of reducing greenhouse gas emissions-a fundamental advantage of biomanufacturing. This review paper posits the perspectives of using CO2 from the atmosphere, industrial wastes, or the exhausted gases generated in microbial fermentation as a feedstock for biomanufacturing. Achieving the carbon-neutral or -negative goals is addressed under two main strategies. The one-step strategy uses novel metabolic pathway design and engineering approaches to directly fix the CO2 toward the synthesis of the desired products. Due to the limitation of the yield and efficiency in one-step fixation, the two-step strategy aims to integrate firstly the electrochemical conversion of the exhausted CO2 into C1/C2 products such as formate, methanol, acetate, and ethanol, and a second fermentation process to utilize the CO2-derived C1/C2 chemicals or co-utilize C5/C6 sugars and C1/C2 chemicals for product formation. The potential and challenges of using CO2 as a feedstock for future biomanufacturing of fuels and chemicals are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elif Kurt
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; (E.K.); (J.Q.); (A.W.)
| | - Jiansong Qin
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; (E.K.); (J.Q.); (A.W.)
| | - Alexandria Williams
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; (E.K.); (J.Q.); (A.W.)
| | - Youbo Zhao
- Physical Sciences Inc., 20 New England Business Ctr., Andover, MA 01810, USA;
| | - Dongming Xie
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts, Lowell, MA 01854, USA; (E.K.); (J.Q.); (A.W.)
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Wang X, Li Y, Jin Z, Liu X, Gao X, Guo S, Yu T. A novel CRISPR/Cas9 system with high genomic editing efficiency and recyclable auxotrophic selective marker for multiple-step metabolic rewriting in Pichia pastoris. Synth Syst Biotechnol 2023; 8:445-451. [PMID: 37448527 PMCID: PMC10336193 DOI: 10.1016/j.synbio.2023.06.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/27/2023] [Revised: 05/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/08/2023] [Indexed: 07/15/2023] Open
Abstract
The methylotrophic budding yeast Pichia pastoris has been utilized to the production of a variety of heterologous recombinant proteins owing to the strong inducible alcohol oxidase promoter (pAOX1). However, it is difficult to use P. pastoris as the chassis cell factory for high-valuable metabolite biosynthesis due to the low homologous recombination (HR) efficiency and the limitation of handy selective markers, especially in the condition of multistep biosynthetic pathways. Hence, we developed a novel CRISPR/Cas9 system with highly editing efficiencies and recyclable auxotrophic selective marker (HiEE-ReSM) to facilitate cell factory in P. pastoris. Firstly, we improved the HR rates of P. pastoris through knocking out the non-homologous-end-joining gene (Δku70) and overexpressing HR-related proteins (RAD52 and RAD59), resulting in higher positive rate compared to the basal strain, achieved 97%. Then, we used the uracil biosynthetic genes PpURA3 as the reverse screening marker, which can improve the recycling efficiency of marker. Meanwhile, the HR rate is still 100% in uracil auxotrophic yeast. Specially, we improved the growth rate of uracil auxotrophic yeast strains by overexpressing the uracil transporter (scFUR4) to increase the uptake of exogenous uracil from medium. Meanwhile, we explored the optimal concentration of uracil (90 mg/L) for strain growth. In the end, the HiEE-ReSM system has been applied for the inositol production (250 mg/L) derived from methanol in P. pastoris. The systems will contribute to P. pastoris as an attractive cell factory for the complex compound biosynthesis through multistep metabolic pathway engineering and will be a useful tool to improve one carbon (C1) bio-utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiang Wang
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Yi Li
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
- University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhehao Jin
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiangjian Liu
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Xiang Gao
- Center for Materials Synthetic Biology, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology of CAS, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academic of Science, Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Shuyuan Guo
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
| | - Tao Yu
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, CAS Key Laboratory of Quantitative Engineering Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Shenzhen, 518055, China
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Naseri G. A roadmap to establish a comprehensive platform for sustainable manufacturing of natural products in yeast. Nat Commun 2023; 14:1916. [PMID: 37024483 PMCID: PMC10079933 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-37627-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2023] [Indexed: 04/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Secondary natural products (NPs) are a rich source for drug discovery. However, the low abundance of NPs makes their extraction from nature inefficient, while chemical synthesis is challenging and unsustainable. Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris are excellent manufacturing systems for the production of NPs. This Perspective discusses a comprehensive platform for sustainable production of NPs in the two yeasts through system-associated optimization at four levels: genetics, temporal controllers, productivity screening, and scalability. Additionally, it is pointed out critical metabolic building blocks in NP bioengineering can be identified through connecting multilevel data of the optimized system using deep learning.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gita Naseri
- Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens, Charitéplatz 1, 10117, Berlin, Germany.
- Institut für Biologie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstrasse 13, 10115, Berlin, Germany.
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Wang J, Liao Y, Qin J, Ma C, Jin Y, Wang X, Chen K, Ouyang P. Increasing lysine level improved methanol assimilation toward butyric acid production in Butyribacterium methylotrophicum. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2023; 16:10. [PMID: 36650609 PMCID: PMC9847067 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-023-02263-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2022] [Accepted: 01/09/2023] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Methanol, a promising non-food fermentation substrate, has gained increasing interest as an alternative feedstock to sugars for the bio-based production of value-added chemicals. Butyribacterium methylotrophicum, one of methylotrophic-acetogenic bacterium, is a promising host to assimilate methanol coupled with CO2 fixation for the production of organic acids, such as butyric acid. Although the methanol utilization pathway has been identified in B. methylotrophicum, little knowledge was currently known about its regulatory targets, limiting the rational engineering to improve methanol utilization. RESULTS In this study, we found that methanol assimilation of B. methylotrophicum could be significantly improved when using corn steep liquor (CSL) as the co-substrate. The further investigation revealed that high level of lysine was responsible for enhanced methanol utilization. Through the transcriptome analysis, we proposed a potential mechanism by which lysine confers improved methylotrophy via modulating NikABCDE and FhuBCD transporters, both of which are involved in the uptake of cofactors essential for enzymes of methanol assimilation. The improved methylotrophy was also confirmed by overexpressing NikABCDE or FhuBCD operon. Finally, the de novo synthetic pathway of lysine was further engineered and the methanol utilization and butyric acid production of B. methylotrophicum were improved by 63.2% and 79.7%, respectively. After an optimization of cultivation medium, 3.69 g/L of butyric acid was finally achieved from methanol with a yield of 76.3%, the highest level reported to date. CONCLUSION This study revealed a novel mechanism to regulate methanol assimilation by lysine in B. methylotrophicum and engineered it to improve methanol bioconversion to butyric acid, culminating in the synthesis of the highest butyric acid titer reported so far in B. methylotrophicum. What's more, our work represents a further advancement in the engineering of methylotrophic-acetogenic bacterium to improve C1-compound utilization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jing Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, Jiangsu, China
| | - Yang Liao
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, Jiangsu, China
| | - Jialun Qin
- 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
| | - Yuqi Jin
- State Key Laboratory of Materials-Oriented Chemical Engineering, College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, 211816, Jiangsu, China
| | - Xin Wang
- 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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Mohanty SR, Mahawar H, Bajpai A, Dubey G, Parmar R, Atoliya N, Devi MH, Singh AB, Jain D, Patra A, Kollah B. Methylotroph bacteria and cellular metabolite carotenoid alleviate ultraviolet radiation-driven abiotic stress in plants. Front Microbiol 2023; 13:899268. [PMID: 36687662 PMCID: PMC9853530 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2022.899268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Accepted: 09/30/2022] [Indexed: 01/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Increasing UV radiation in the atmosphere due to the depletion of ozone layer is emerging abiotic stress for agriculture. Although plants have evolved to adapt to UV radiation through different mechanisms, but the role of phyllosphere microorganisms in counteracting UV radiation is not well studied. The current experiment was undertaken to evaluate the role of phyllosphere Methylobacteria and its metabolite in the alleviation of abiotic stress rendered by ultraviolet (UV) radiation. A potential pink pigmenting methylotroph bacterium was isolated from the phylloplane of the rice plant (oryzae sativa). The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the bacterium was homologous to the Methylobacter sp. The isolate referred to as Methylobacter sp N39, produced beta-carotene at a rate (μg ml-1 d-1) of 0.45-3.09. Biosynthesis of beta-carotene was stimulated by brief exposure to UV for 10 min per 2 days. Carotenoid biosynthesis was predicted as y = 3.09 × incubation period + 22.151 (r 2 = 0.90). The carotenoid extract of N39 protected E. coli from UV radiation by declining its death rate from 14.67% min-1 to 4.30% min-1 under UV radiation. Application of N39 cells and carotenoid extract also protected rhizobium (Bradyrhizobium japonicum) cells from UV radiation. Scanning electron microscopy indicated that the carotenoid extracts protected E. coli cells from UV radiation. Foliar application of either N39 cells or carotenoid extract enhanced the plant's (Pigeon pea) resistance to UV irradiation. This study highlight that Methylobacter sp N39 and its carotenoid extract can be explored to manage UV radiation stress in agriculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Santosh Ranjan Mohanty
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India,*Correspondence: Santosh Ranjan Mohanty, ,
| | - Himanshu Mahawar
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India,ICAR -s Directorate of Weed Research, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, India,Himanshu Mahawar,
| | - Apekcha Bajpai
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Garima Dubey
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Rakesh Parmar
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Nagvanti Atoliya
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | | | | | - Devendra Jain
- Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Udaipur, Rajasthan, India
| | - Ashok Patra
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
| | - Bharati Kollah
- ICAR-Indian Institute of Soil Science, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India,Bharati Kollah, ,
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Lv X, Yu W, Zhang C, Ning P, Li J, Liu Y, Du G, Liu L. C1-based biomanufacturing: Advances, challenges and perspectives. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2023; 367:128259. [PMID: 36347475 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128259] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Revised: 10/29/2022] [Accepted: 10/29/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
One-carbon (C1) compounds have emerged as a key research focus due to the growth of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology as affordable and sustainable nonfood sugar feedstocks for energy-efficient and environmentally friendly biomanufacturing. This paper summarizes and discusses current developments in C1 compounds for biomanufacturing. First, two primary groups of microbes that use C1 compounds (native and synthetic) are introduced, and the traits, categorization, and functions of C1 microbes are summarized. Second, engineering strategies for C1 utilization are compiled and reviewed, including reconstruction of C1-utilization pathway, enzyme engineering, cofactor engineering, genome-scale modeling, and adaptive laboratory evolution. Third, a review of C1 compounds' uses in the synthesis of biofuels and high-value compounds is presented. Finally, potential obstacles to C1-based biomanufacturing are highlighted along with future research initiatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xueqin Lv
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Baima Future Foods Research Institute, Nanjing 211225, China
| | - Wenwen Yu
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Chenyang Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Peng Ning
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Jianghua Li
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Yanfeng Liu
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Guocheng Du
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China
| | - Long Liu
- Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China; Science Center for Future Foods, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, China.
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11
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Le HTQ, Lee EY. Insights into C1 and C3 assimilation pathways in type I methanotrophic bacterium from co-production of 1,2-propanediol and lactate. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2022; 365:128172. [PMID: 36279980 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2022.128172] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2022] [Revised: 10/15/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2022] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Methanotrophic bacteria are attractive hosts for mining metabolic pathways of C1 assimilation to produce value-added products. Herein, the type I methanotroph Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z was employed to explore the carbon flux from methane and methanol via the EMP pathway to produce 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO). The production of 1,2-PDO on methane was found to be mainly restricted by the lower carbon flux toward the EMP pathway. The co-utilization of C1 substrates and glycerol (C3) could contribute to enhance 1,2-PDO. Lactate was co-produced in much higher amounts than 1,2-PDO. This unexpected product was probably derived from lactaldehyde by inherent aldehyde dehydrogenases. The 1,2-PDO production without increased accumulation of lactate was observed via establishing the acetol-based pathway by propane utilization with the overexpression of pmoD. This is the first study to provide experimental insights into the operation of metabolic routes for 1,2-PDO and lactate co-production from C1 and C3 compounds in methanotrophs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoa Thi Quynh Le
- Department of Chemical Engineering (BK21 FOUR Integrated Engineering Program), Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea
| | - Eun Yeol Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering (BK21 FOUR Integrated Engineering Program), Kyung Hee University, Yongin 17104, Republic of Korea.
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12
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Singh HB, Kang MK, Kwon M, Kim SW. Developing methylotrophic microbial platforms for a methanol-based bioindustry. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:1050740. [PMID: 36507257 PMCID: PMC9727194 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.1050740] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/22/2022] [Accepted: 11/11/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Methanol, a relatively cheap and renewable single-carbon feedstock, has gained considerable attention as a substrate for the bio-production of commodity chemicals. Conventionally produced from syngas, along with emerging possibilities of generation from methane and CO2, this C1 substrate can serve as a pool for sequestering greenhouse gases while supporting a sustainable bio-economy. Methylotrophic organisms, with the inherent ability to use methanol as the sole carbon and energy source, are competent candidates as platform organisms. Accordingly, methanol bioconversion pathways have been an attractive target for biotechnological and bioengineering interventions in developing microbial cell factories. This review summarizes the recent advances in methanol-based production of various bulk and value-added chemicals exploiting the native and synthetic methylotrophic organisms. Finally, the current challenges and prospects of streamlining these methylotrophic platforms are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hawaibam Birla Singh
- Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Four), ABC-RLRC, PMBBRC, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea
| | - Min-Kyoung Kang
- Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Four), ABC-RLRC, PMBBRC, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea
| | - Moonhyuk Kwon
- Division of Life Science, ABC-RLRC, PMBBRC, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea,*Correspondence: Moonhyuk Kwon, ; Seon-Won Kim,
| | - Seon-Won Kim
- Division of Applied Life Science (BK21 Four), ABC-RLRC, PMBBRC, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea,*Correspondence: Moonhyuk Kwon, ; Seon-Won Kim,
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13
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Wegat V, Fabarius JT, Sieber V. Synthetic methylotrophic yeasts for the sustainable fuel and chemical production. BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR BIOFUELS AND BIOPRODUCTS 2022; 15:113. [PMID: 36273178 PMCID: PMC9587593 DOI: 10.1186/s13068-022-02210-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2022] [Accepted: 09/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
Global energy-related emissions, in particular carbon dioxide, are rapidly increasing. Without immediate and strong reductions across all sectors, limiting global warming to 1.5 °C and thus mitigating climate change is beyond reach. In addition to the expansion of renewable energies and the increase in energy efficiency, the so-called Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies represent an innovative approach for closing the carbon cycle and establishing a circular economy. One option is to combine CO2 capture with microbial C1 fermentation. C1-molecules, such as methanol or formate are considered as attractive alternative feedstock for biotechnological processes due to their sustainable production using only CO2, water and renewable energy. Native methylotrophic microorganisms can utilize these feedstock for the production of value-added compounds. Currently, constraints exist regarding the understanding of methylotrophic metabolism and the available genetic engineering tools are limited. For this reason, the development of synthetic methylotrophic cell factories based on the integration of natural or artificial methanol assimilation pathways in biotechnologically relevant microorganisms is receiving special attention. Yeasts like Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Yarrowia lipolytica are capable of producing important products from sugar-based feedstock and the switch to produce these in the future from methanol is important in order to realize a CO2-based economy that is independent from land use. Here, we review historical biotechnological applications, the metabolism and the characteristics of methylotrophic yeasts. Various studies demonstrated the production of a broad set of promising products from fine chemicals to bulk chemicals by applying methylotrophic yeasts. Regarding synthetic methylotrophy, the deep understanding of the methylotrophic metabolism serves as the basis for microbial strain engineering and paves the way towards a CO2-based circular bioeconomy. We highlight design aspects of synthetic methylotrophy and discuss the resulting chances and challenges using non-conventional yeasts as host organisms. We conclude that the road towards synthetic methylotrophic yeasts can only be achieved through a combination of methods (e.g., metabolic engineering and adaptive laboratory evolution). Furthermore, we presume that the installation of metabolic regeneration cycles such as supporting carbon re-entry towards the pentose phosphate pathway from C1-metabolism is a pivotal target for synthetic methylotrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa Wegat
- grid.469831.10000 0000 9186 607XFraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology, Straubing branch Biocat, Schulgasse 11a, 94315 Straubing, Germany ,grid.6936.a0000000123222966Technical University of Munich, Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability, Schulgasse 16, 94315 Straubing, Germany
| | - Jonathan T. Fabarius
- grid.469831.10000 0000 9186 607XFraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology, Straubing branch Biocat, Schulgasse 11a, 94315 Straubing, Germany
| | - Volker Sieber
- grid.469831.10000 0000 9186 607XFraunhofer Institute for Interfacial Engineering and Biotechnology, Straubing branch Biocat, Schulgasse 11a, 94315 Straubing, Germany ,grid.6936.a0000000123222966Technical University of Munich, Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability, Schulgasse 16, 94315 Straubing, Germany
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14
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An Overview on Methanotrophs and the Role of Methylosinus trichosporium OB3b for Biotechnological Applications. BIOTECHNOL BIOPROC E 2022. [DOI: 10.1007/s12257-022-0046-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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15
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Xu Y, Ren J, Wang W, Zeng A. Improvement of glycine biosynthesis from one-carbon compounds and ammonia catalyzed by the glycine cleavage system in vitro. Eng Life Sci 2022; 22:40-53. [PMID: 35024026 PMCID: PMC8727733 DOI: 10.1002/elsc.202100047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2021] [Revised: 08/25/2021] [Accepted: 10/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Glycine cleavage system (GCS) plays a central role in one-carbon (C1) metabolism and receives increasing interest as a core part of the recently proposed reductive glycine pathway (rGlyP) for assimilation of CO2 and formate. Despite decades of research, GCS has not yet been well understood and kinetic data are barely available. This is to a large degree because of the complexity of GCS, which is composed of four proteins (H, T, P, and L) and catalyzes reactions involving different substrates and cofactors. In vitro kinetics of reconstructed microbial multi-enzyme glycine cleavage/synthase system is desired to better implement rGlyP in microorganisms like Escherichia coli for the use of C1 resources. Here, we examined in vitro several factors that may affect the rate of glycine synthesis via the reverse GCS reaction. We found that the ratio of GCS component proteins has a direct influence on the rate of glycine synthesis, namely higher ratios of P protein and especially H protein to T and L proteins are favorable, and the carboxylation reaction catalyzed by P protein is a key step determining the glycine synthesis rate, whereas increasing the ratio of L protein to other GCS proteins does not have significant effect and the ratio of T protein to other GCS proteins should be kept low. The effect of substrate concentrations on glycine synthesis is quite complex, showing interdependence with the ratios of GCS component proteins. Furthermore, adding the reducing agent dithiothreitol to the reaction mixture not only results in great tolerance to high concentration of formaldehyde, but also increases the rate of glycine synthesis, probably due to its functions in activating P protein and taking up the role of L protein in the non-enzymatic reduction of Hox to Hred. Moreover, the presence of some monovalent and divalent metal ions can have either positive or negative effect on the rate of glycine synthesis, depending on their type and their concentration.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yingying Xu
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and EngineeringBeijing University of Chemical TechnologyBeijingP. R. China
| | - Jie Ren
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and EngineeringBeijing University of Chemical TechnologyBeijingP. R. 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 SafetyMinistry of AgricultureInstitute of Plant ProtectionChinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesBeijingP. R. China
| | - Wei Wang
- Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of TechnologyHamburgGermany
| | - An‐Ping Zeng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and EngineeringBeijing University of Chemical TechnologyBeijingP. R. China
- Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of TechnologyHamburgGermany
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16
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Hong Y, Zeng AP. Biosynthesis Based on One-Carbon Mixotrophy. ADVANCES IN BIOCHEMICAL ENGINEERING/BIOTECHNOLOGY 2022; 180:351-371. [DOI: 10.1007/10_2021_198] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
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17
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García JL, Galán B. Integrating greenhouse gas capture and C1 biotechnology: a key challenge for circular economy. Microb Biotechnol 2021; 15:228-239. [PMID: 34905295 PMCID: PMC8719819 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- José L García
- Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbial and Plant Biotechnology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CIB-MS, CSIC), Madrid, Spain
| | - Beatriz Galán
- Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Microbial and Plant Biotechnology, Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CIB-MS, CSIC), Madrid, Spain
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18
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Jo SY, Son J, Sohn YJ, Lim SH, Lee JY, Yoo JI, Park SY, Na JG, Park SJ. A shortcut to carbon-neutral bioplastic production: Recent advances in microbial production of polyhydroxyalkanoates from C1 resources. Int J Biol Macromol 2021; 192:978-998. [PMID: 34656544 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2021.10.066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 10/09/2021] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Since the 20th century, plastics that are widely being used in general life and industries are causing enormous plastic waste problems since improperly discarded plastics barely degrade and decompose. Thus, the demand for polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), biodegradable polymers with material properties similar to conventional petroleum-based plastics, has been increased so far. The microbial production of PHAs is an environment-friendly solution for the current plastic crisis, however, the carbon sources for the microbial PHA production is a crucial factor to be considered in terms of carbon-neutrality. One‑carbon (C1) resources, such as methane, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide, are greenhouse gases and are abundantly found in nature and industry. C1 resources as the carbon sources for PHA production have a completely closed carbon loop with much advances; i) fast carbon circulation with direct bioconversion process and ii) simple fermentation procedure without sterilization as non-preferable nutrients. This review discusses the biosynthesis of PHAs based on C1 resource utilization by wild-type and metabolically engineered microbial host strains via biorefinery processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seo Young Jo
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Jina Son
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu Jung Sohn
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Seo Hyun Lim
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji Yeon Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Jee In Yoo
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Se Young Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong-Geol Na
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Sogang University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
| | - Si Jae Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, 03760, Republic of Korea.
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19
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Le HTQ, Nguyen AD, Park YR, Lee EY. Sustainable biosynthesis of chemicals from methane and glycerol via reconstruction of multi-carbon utilizing pathway in obligate methanotrophic bacteria. Microb Biotechnol 2021; 14:2552-2565. [PMID: 33830652 PMCID: PMC8601198 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13809] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/27/2020] [Revised: 03/19/2021] [Accepted: 03/19/2021] [Indexed: 01/26/2023] Open
Abstract
Obligate methanotrophic bacteria can utilize methane, an inexpensive carbon feedstock, as a sole energy and carbon substrate, thus are considered as the only nature-provided biocatalyst for sustainable biomanufacturing of fuels and chemicals from methane. To address the limitation of native C1 metabolism of obligate type I methanotrophs, we proposed a novel platform strain that can utilize methane and multi-carbon substrates, such as glycerol, simultaneously to boost growth rates and chemical production in Methylotuvimicrobium alcaliphilum 20Z. To demonstrate the uses of this concept, we reconstructed a 2,3-butanediol biosynthetic pathway and achieved a fourfold higher titer of 2,3-butanediol production by co-utilizing methane and glycerol compared with that of methanotrophic growth. In addition, we reported the creation of a methanotrophic biocatalyst for one-step bioconversion of methane to methanol in which glycerol was used for cell growth, and methane was mainly used for methanol production. After the deletion of genes encoding methanol dehydrogenase (MDH), 11.6 mM methanol was obtained after 72 h using living cells in the absence of any chemical inhibitors of MDH and exogenous NADH source. A further improvement of this bioconversion was attained by using resting cells with a significantly increased titre of 76 mM methanol after 3.5 h with the supply of 40 mM formate. The work presented here provides a novel framework for a variety of approaches in methane-based biomanufacturing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hoa Thi Quynh Le
- Department of Chemical Engineering (Integrated Engineering)Kyung Hee University17104Yongin‐siGyeonggi‐doSouth Korea
| | - Anh Duc Nguyen
- Department of Chemical Engineering (Integrated Engineering)Kyung Hee University17104Yongin‐siGyeonggi‐doSouth Korea
| | - Ye Rim Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering (Integrated Engineering)Kyung Hee University17104Yongin‐siGyeonggi‐doSouth Korea
| | - Eun Yeol Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering (Integrated Engineering)Kyung Hee University17104Yongin‐siGyeonggi‐doSouth Korea
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20
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Gregory GJ, Bennett RK, Papoutsakis ET. Recent advances toward the bioconversion of methane and methanol in synthetic methylotrophs. Metab Eng 2021; 71:99-116. [PMID: 34547453 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2021.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Revised: 09/14/2021] [Accepted: 09/16/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Abundant natural gas reserves, along with increased biogas production, have prompted recent interest in harnessing methane as an industrial feedstock for the production of liquid fuels and chemicals. Methane can either be used directly for fermentation or first oxidized to methanol via biological or chemical means. Methanol is advantageous due to its liquid state under normal conditions. Methylotrophy, defined as the ability of microorganisms to utilize reduced one-carbon compounds like methane and methanol as sole carbon and energy sources for growth, is widespread in bacterial communities. However, native methylotrophs lack the extensive and well-characterized synthetic biology toolbox of platform microorganisms like Escherichia coli, which results in slow and inefficient design-build-test cycles. If a heterologous production pathway can be engineered, the slow growth and uptake rates of native methylotrophs generally limit their industrial potential. Therefore, much focus has been placed on engineering synthetic methylotrophs, or non-methylotrophic platform microorganisms, like E. coli, that have been engineered with synthetic methanol utilization pathways. These platform hosts allow for rapid design-build-test cycles and are well-suited for industrial application at the current time. In this review, recent progress made toward synthetic methylotrophy (including methanotrophy) is discussed. Specifically, the importance of amino acid metabolism and alternative one-carbon assimilation pathways are detailed. A recent study that has achieved methane bioconversion to liquid chemicals in a synthetic E. coli methanotroph is also briefly discussed. We also discuss strategies for the way forward in order to realize the industrial potential of synthetic methanotrophs and methylotrophs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gwendolyn J Gregory
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - R Kyle Bennett
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Eleftherios T Papoutsakis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
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21
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Zhao L, Chen H, Yuan Z, Guo J. Interactions of functional microorganisms and their contributions to methane bioconversion to short-chain fatty acids. WATER RESEARCH 2021; 199:117184. [PMID: 33984586 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2021.117184] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/03/2020] [Revised: 04/05/2021] [Accepted: 04/18/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Methane bioconversion to value-added liquid chemicals has been proposed as a promising solution to augment the petroleum-dominated chemical market. Recent investigations have reported that various electron acceptors (e.g., nitrite and nitrate) are available to drive methane bioconversion to short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). However, little is known about effects of the rate electron acceptor supplied on liquid chemical production from methane. Herein, three independent membrane biofilm reactors (MBfRs) feeding with respective nitrate, nitrite, combined nitrate and nitrite were operated under high and low rate condition in succession, to study whether feeding rate of electron acceptors could impact the methane bioconversion to SCFAs and the associated microbiological features. Long-term operation showed that all tested electron acceptors with a high supply rate were favorable for methane bioconversion to SCFAs (990.9 mg L-1d-1, 1695.7 mg L-1d-1, and 2425.7 mg L-1d-1), while under a low electron acceptor feeding rate, the SCFA production rate decreased to 8.9 mg L-1d-1, 16.8 mg L-1d-1, and 260.1 mg L-1d-1, respectively. Microbial community characterization showed that the biofilm was predominated by Methanosarcina, Methanobacterium, Propionispora and Clostridium. On the basis of the known metabolism characteristics of these microorganisms, it was assumed that these methanogens and fermenters contributed jointly to methane bioconversion to SCFAs. The findings could be helpful to understand the role of electron acceptor rate in methane bioconversion to liquid chemicals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lei Zhao
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia; School of Environment, State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resources and Environment, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150090, China
| | - Hui Chen
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia; Shandong Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao 266237, China
| | - Zhiguo Yuan
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
| | - Jianhua Guo
- Advanced Water Management Centre, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.
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22
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Sasso Pisano Geothermal Field Environment Harbours Diverse Ktedonobacteria Representatives and Illustrates Habitat-Specific Adaptations. Microorganisms 2021; 9:microorganisms9071402. [PMID: 34209727 PMCID: PMC8306680 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms9071402] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2021] [Revised: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 06/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The hydrothermal steam environment of Sasso Pisano (Italy) was selected to investigate the associated microbial community and its metabolic potential. In this context, 16S and 18S rRNA gene partial sequences of thermophilic prokaryotes and eukaryotes inhabiting hot springs and fumaroles as well as mesophilic microbes colonising soil and water were analysed by high-throughput amplicon sequencing. The eukaryotic and prokaryotic communities from hot environments clearly differ from reference microbial communities of colder soil sites, though Ktedonobacteria showed high abundances in various hot spring samples and a few soil samples. This indicates that the hydrothermal steam environments of Sasso Pisano represent not only a vast reservoir of thermophilic but also mesophilic members of this Chloroflexi class. Metabolic functional profiling revealed that the hot spring microbiome exhibits a higher capability to utilise methane and aromatic compounds and is more diverse in its sulphur and nitrogen metabolism than the mesophilic soil microbial consortium. In addition, heavy metal resistance-conferring genes were significantly more abundant in the hot spring microbiome. The eukaryotic diversity at a fumarole indicated high abundances of primary producers (unicellular red algae: Cyanidiales), consumers (Arthropoda: Collembola sp.), and endoparasite Apicomplexa (Gregarina sp.), which helps to hypothesise a simplified food web at this hot and extremely nutrient-deprived acidic environment.
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23
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Zhan C, Li X, Yang Y, Nielsen J, Bai Z, Chen Y. Strategies and challenges with the microbial conversion of methanol to high-value chemicals. Biotechnol Bioeng 2021; 118:3655-3668. [PMID: 34133022 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27862] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2020] [Revised: 05/25/2021] [Accepted: 06/10/2021] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
As alternatives to traditional fermentation substrates, methanol (CH3 OH), carbon dioxide (CO2 ) and methane (CH4 ) represent promising one-carbon (C1) sources that are readily available at low-cost and share similar metabolic pathway. Of these C1 compounds, methanol is used as a carbon and energy source by native methylotrophs, and can be obtained from CO2 and CH4 by chemical catalysis. Therefore, constructing and rewiring methanol utilization pathways may enable the use of one-carbon sources for microbial fermentations. Recent bioengineering efforts have shown that both native and nonnative methylotrophic organisms can be engineered to convert methanol, together with other carbon sources, into biofuels and other commodity chemicals. However, many challenges remain and must be overcome before industrial-scale bioprocessing can be established using these engineered cell refineries. Here, we provide a comprehensive summary and comparison of methanol metabolic pathways from different methylotrophs, followed by a review of recent progress in engineering methanol metabolic pathways in vitro and in vivo to produce chemicals. We discuss the major challenges associated with establishing efficient methanol metabolic pathways in microbial cells, and propose improved designs for future engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chunjun Zhan
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Xiaowei Li
- Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
| | - Yankun Yang
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Jens Nielsen
- Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,BioInnovation Institute, Copenhagen N, Denmark
| | - Zhonghu Bai
- National Engineering Laboratory for Cereal Fermentation Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China.,The Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, China
| | - Yun Chen
- Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden.,Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, Gothenburg, Sweden
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24
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Guerrero-Cruz S, Vaksmaa A, Horn MA, Niemann H, Pijuan M, Ho A. Methanotrophs: Discoveries, Environmental Relevance, and a Perspective on Current and Future Applications. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:678057. [PMID: 34054786 PMCID: PMC8163242 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.678057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/08/2021] [Accepted: 04/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Methane is the final product of the anaerobic decomposition of organic matter. The conversion of organic matter to methane (methanogenesis) as a mechanism for energy conservation is exclusively attributed to the archaeal domain. Methane is oxidized by methanotrophic microorganisms using oxygen or alternative terminal electron acceptors. Aerobic methanotrophic bacteria belong to the phyla Proteobacteria and Verrucomicrobia, while anaerobic methane oxidation is also mediated by more recently discovered anaerobic methanotrophs with representatives in both the bacteria and the archaea domains. The anaerobic oxidation of methane is coupled to the reduction of nitrate, nitrite, iron, manganese, sulfate, and organic electron acceptors (e.g., humic substances) as terminal electron acceptors. This review highlights the relevance of methanotrophy in natural and anthropogenically influenced ecosystems, emphasizing the environmental conditions, distribution, function, co-existence, interactions, and the availability of electron acceptors that likely play a key role in regulating their function. A systematic overview of key aspects of ecology, physiology, metabolism, and genomics is crucial to understand the contribution of methanotrophs in the mitigation of methane efflux to the atmosphere. We give significance to the processes under microaerophilic and anaerobic conditions for both aerobic and anaerobic methane oxidizers. In the context of anthropogenically influenced ecosystems, we emphasize the current and potential future applications of methanotrophs from two different angles, namely methane mitigation in wastewater treatment through the application of anaerobic methanotrophs, and the biotechnological applications of aerobic methanotrophs in resource recovery from methane waste streams. Finally, we identify knowledge gaps that may lead to opportunities to harness further the biotechnological benefits of methanotrophs in methane mitigation and for the production of valuable bioproducts enabling a bio-based and circular economy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simon Guerrero-Cruz
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain
- Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Annika Vaksmaa
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ’t Horntje, Netherlands
| | - Marcus A. Horn
- Institute of Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
| | - Helge Niemann
- Department of Marine Microbiology and Biogeochemistry, NIOZ Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research, ’t Horntje, Netherlands
- Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Geosciences, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Netherlands
- Centre for Arctic Gas Hydrate, Environment and Climate, Department of Geosciences, UiT the Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway
| | - Maite Pijuan
- Catalan Institute for Water Research (ICRA), Girona, Spain
- Universitat de Girona, Girona, Spain
| | - Adrian Ho
- Institute of Microbiology, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover, Germany
- Division of Applied Life Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju, South Korea
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25
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Yoo JI, Sohn YJ, Son J, Jo SY, Pyo J, Park SK, Choi JI, Joo JC, Kim HT, Park SJ. Recent advances in the microbial production of C4 alcohols by metabolically engineered microorganisms. Biotechnol J 2021; 17:e2000451. [PMID: 33984183 DOI: 10.1002/biot.202000451] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2020] [Revised: 04/28/2021] [Accepted: 04/28/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The heavy global dependence on petroleum-based industries has led to serious environmental problems, including climate change and global warming. As a result, there have been calls for a paradigm shift towards the use of biorefineries, which employ natural and engineered microorganisms that can utilize various carbon sources from renewable resources as host strains for the carbon-neutral production of target products. PURPOSE AND SCOPE C4 alcohols are versatile chemicals that can be used directly as biofuels and bulk chemicals and in the production of value-added materials such as plastics, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. C4 alcohols can be effectively produced by microorganisms using DCEO biotechnology (tools to design, construct, evaluate, and optimize) and metabolic engineering strategies. SUMMARY OF NEW SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSIONS In this review, we summarize the production strategies and various synthetic tools available for the production of C4 alcohols and discuss the potential development of microbial cell factories, including the optimization of fermentation processes, that offer cost competitiveness and potential industrial commercialization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jee In Yoo
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Yu Jung Sohn
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jina Son
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Seo Young Jo
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jiwon Pyo
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Su Kyeong Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jong-Il Choi
- Department of Biotechnology and Engineering, Interdisciplinary Program of Bioenergy and Biomaterials, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong Chan Joo
- Department of Biotechnology, The Catholic University of Korea, Bucheon, Gyenggi-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Hee Taek Kim
- Department of Food Science and Technology, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, Republic of Korea
| | - Si Jae Park
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, Graduate Program in System Health Science and Engineering, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
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26
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Meng H, Wang C, Yuan Q, Ren J, Zeng AP. An Aldolase-Based New Pathway for Bioconversion of Formaldehyde and Ethanol into 1,3-Propanediol in Escherichia coli. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:799-809. [PMID: 33729768 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00597] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a reactive one-carbon compound that is interesting for biosynthesis. The assimilation of HCHO depends on the catalysis of aldolase. Here, we present a novel synthetic pathway in E. coli to convert HCHO and ethanol into 1,3-propanediol (PDO) using a deoxyribose-5-phosphate aldolase (DERA). DERA condenses HCHO and acetaldehyde to form 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde, the direct precursor of PDO formation. This new pathway opens up the possibility to synthesize an appealing C3 compound from a C1 compound and a C2 compound without carbon loss in contrast to all the other known PDO synthetic pathways where typically 30-50% of the carbons are lost as CO2 and other byproducts. The pathway is successfully demonstrated by elaborating three metabolic modules. First, DERA from Thermotoga maritima was found to be efficient for the aldol condensation and PDO production module. For the module of acetaldehyde supply from ethanol, an alcohol dehydrogenase from Hansenula polymorpha was selected. For the HCHO supply module, the control of HCHO concentration and its utilization were shown to be important for achieving the assimilation of HCHO in recombinant E. coli cells. By deleting the gene frmA for endogenous conversion of HCHO to formate and controlling HCHO at a level of about 0.6 mM, the concentration and yield of PDO were increased from initially 5.67 mM (0.43 g/L) and 0.057 mol/mol to 17.35 mM (1.32 g/L) and 0.096 mol/mol in bioconversion of ethanol and HCHO with resting E. coli cells. Further engineering of DERA and the HCHO supply module is necessary to realize the potential of this promising metabolic pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hao Meng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Chuang Wang
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, 100029 Beijing, China
| | - Qipeng Yuan
- State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, 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, 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 Agriproduct Quality and Safety, Ministry of Agriculture, Institute of Plant Protection, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081, China
| | - An-Ping Zeng
- Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, North Third Ring Road 15, 100029 Beijing, China
- Institute of Bioprocess and Biosystems Engineering, Hamburg University of Technology, Denickestrasse 15, D-21073 Hamburg, Germany
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27
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Cellulose nanocrystals coated with a tannic acid-Fe 3+ complex as a significant medium for efficient CH 4 microbial biotransformation. Carbohydr Polym 2021; 258:117733. [PMID: 33593529 DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2021.117733] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/15/2020] [Revised: 01/06/2021] [Accepted: 01/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Microbial biotransformation of CH4 gas has been attractive for the production of energy and high-value chemicals. However, insufficient supply of CH4 in a culture medium needs to be overcome for the efficient utilization of CH4. Here, we utilized cellulose nanocrystals coated with a tannic acid-Fe3+ complex (TA-Fe3+CNCs) as a medium component to enhance the gas-liquid mass-transfer performance. TA-Fe3+CNCs were well suspended in water without agglomeration, stabilized gas bubbles without coalescence, and increased the gas solubility by 20 % and the kLa value at a rapid inlet gas flow rate. Remarkably, the cell growth rate of Methylomonas sp. DH-1 as model CH4-utilizing bacteria improved with TA-Fe3+CNC concentration without any cytotoxic or antibacterial properties, resulting in higher metabolite production ability such as methanol, pyruvate, formate, and succinate. These results showed that TA-Fe3+CNCs could be utilized as a significant component in the culture medium applicable as a promising nanofluid for efficient CH4 microbial biotransformation.
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28
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Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO. Principles and practice of designing microbial biocatalysts for fuel and chemical production. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 49:6158391. [PMID: 33686428 PMCID: PMC9118985 DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuab016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/20/2020] [Accepted: 03/03/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
The finite nature of fossil fuels and the environmental impact of its use have raised interest in alternate renewable energy sources. Specifically, non-food carbohydrates, such as lignocellulosic biomass, can be used to produce next generation biofuels, including cellulosic ethanol and other non-ethanol fuels like butanol. However, currently there is no native microorganism that can ferment all lignocellulosic sugars to fuel molecules. Thus, research is focused on engineering improved microbial biocatalysts for production of liquid fuels at high productivity, titer and yield. A clear understanding and application of the basic principles of microbial physiology and biochemistry are crucial to achieve this goal. In this review, we present and discuss the construction of microbial biocatalysts that integrate these principles with ethanol-producing Escherichia coli as an example of metabolic engineering. These principles also apply to fermentation of lignocellulosic sugars to other chemicals that are currently produced from petroleum.
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Affiliation(s)
- K T Shanmugam
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Lonnie O Ingram
- Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
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29
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Yang Q, Guo X, Liu Y, Jiang H. Biocatalytic C-C Bond Formation for One Carbon Resource Utilization. Int J Mol Sci 2021; 22:ijms22041890. [PMID: 33672882 PMCID: PMC7918591 DOI: 10.3390/ijms22041890] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/22/2022] Open
Abstract
The carbon-carbon bond formation has always been one of the most important reactions in C1 resource utilization. Compared to traditional organic synthesis methods, biocatalytic C-C bond formation offers a green and potent alternative for C1 transformation. In recent years, with the development of synthetic biology, more and more carboxylases and C-C ligases have been mined and designed for the C1 transformation in vitro and C1 assimilation in vivo. This article presents an overview of C-C bond formation in biocatalytic C1 resource utilization is first provided. Sets of newly mined and designed carboxylases and ligases capable of catalyzing C-C bond formation for the transformation of CO2, formaldehyde, CO, and formate are then reviewed, and their catalytic mechanisms are discussed. Finally, the current advances and the future perspectives for the development of catalysts for C1 resource utilization are provided.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiaoyu Yang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; (Q.Y.); (X.G.)
- National Technology Innovation Center of Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Xiaoxian Guo
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; (Q.Y.); (X.G.)
- National Technology Innovation Center of Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
| | - Yuwan Liu
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; (Q.Y.); (X.G.)
- National Technology Innovation Center of Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (H.J.)
| | - Huifeng Jiang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin 300308, China; (Q.Y.); (X.G.)
- National Technology Innovation Center of Synthetic Biology, Tianjin 300308, China
- Correspondence: (Y.L.); (H.J.)
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30
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Bennett RK, Gregory GJ, Gonzalez JE, Har JRG, Antoniewicz MR, Papoutsakis ET. Improving the Methanol Tolerance of an Escherichia coli Methylotroph via Adaptive Laboratory Evolution Enhances Synthetic Methanol Utilization. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:638426. [PMID: 33643274 PMCID: PMC7904680 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.638426] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/06/2020] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
There is great interest in developing synthetic methylotrophs that harbor methane and methanol utilization pathways in heterologous hosts such as Escherichia coli for industrial bioconversion of one-carbon compounds. While there are recent reports that describe the successful engineering of synthetic methylotrophs, additional efforts are required to achieve the robust methylotrophic phenotypes required for industrial realization. Here, we address an important issue of synthetic methylotrophy in E. coli: methanol toxicity. Both methanol, and its oxidation product, formaldehyde, are cytotoxic to cells. Methanol alters the fluidity and biological properties of cellular membranes while formaldehyde reacts readily with proteins and nucleic acids. Thus, efforts to enhance the methanol tolerance of synthetic methylotrophs are important. Here, adaptive laboratory evolution was performed to improve the methanol tolerance of several E. coli strains, both methylotrophic and non-methylotrophic. Serial batch passaging in rich medium containing toxic methanol concentrations yielded clones exhibiting improved methanol tolerance. In several cases, these evolved clones exhibited a > 50% improvement in growth rate and biomass yield in the presence of high methanol concentrations compared to the respective parental strains. Importantly, one evolved clone exhibited a two to threefold improvement in the methanol utilization phenotype, as determined via 13C-labeling, at non-toxic, industrially relevant methanol concentrations compared to the respective parental strain. Whole genome sequencing was performed to identify causative mutations contributing to methanol tolerance. Common mutations were identified in 30S ribosomal subunit proteins, which increased translational accuracy and provided insight into a novel methanol tolerance mechanism. This study addresses an important issue of synthetic methylotrophy in E. coli and provides insight as to how methanol toxicity can be alleviated via enhancing methanol tolerance. Coupled improvement of methanol tolerance and synthetic methanol utilization is an important advancement for the field of synthetic methylotrophy.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Kyle Bennett
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.,Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory, The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Gwendolyn J Gregory
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.,Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory, The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Jacqueline E Gonzalez
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Jie Ren Gerald Har
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Maciek R Antoniewicz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
| | - Eleftherios T Papoutsakis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States.,Molecular Biotechnology Laboratory, The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, United States
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31
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Yuan XJ, Chen WJ, Ma ZX, Yuan QQ, Zhang M, He L, Mo XH, Zhang C, Zhang CT, Wang MY, Xing XH, Yang S. Rewiring the native methanol assimilation metabolism by incorporating the heterologous ribulose monophosphate cycle into Methylorubrum extorquens. Metab Eng 2021; 64:95-110. [PMID: 33493644 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2021.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2020] [Revised: 01/05/2021] [Accepted: 01/18/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Methanol is assimilated through the serine cycle to generate acetyl-CoA without carbon loss. However, a highly active serine cycle requires high consumption of reducing equivalents and ATP, thereby leading to the impaired efficiency of methanol conversion to reduced chemicals. In the present study, a genome-scale flux balance analysis (FBA) predicted that the introduction of the heterologous ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) cycle, a more energy-efficient pathway for methanol assimilation, could theoretically increase growth rate by 31.3% for the model alphaproteobacterial methylotroph Methylorubrum extorquens AM1. Based on this analysis, we constructed a novel synergistic assimilation pathway in vivo by incorporating the RuMP cycle into M. extroquens metabolism with the intrinsic serine cycle. We demonstrated that the operation of the synergistic pathway could increase cell growth rate by 16.5% and methanol consumption rate by 13.1%. This strategy rewired the central methylotrophic metabolism through adjusting core gene transcription, leading to a pool size increase of C2 to C5 central intermediates by 1.2- to 3.6-fold and an NADPH cofactor improvement by 1.3-fold. The titer of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), a model product in the newly engineered chassis of M. extorquens AM1, was increased to 91.2 mg/L in shake-flask culture, representing a 3.1-fold increase compared with the control strain with only the serine cycle. The final titer of 3-HP was significantly improved to 0.857 g/L in the fed-batch bioreactor, which was more competitive compared with the other 3-HP producers using methane and CO2 as C1 sources. Collectively, our current study demonstrated that engineering the synergistic methanol assimilation pathway was a promising strategy to increase the carbon assimilation and the yields of reduced chemicals in diverse host strains for C1 microbial cell factories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao-Jie Yuan
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China; Department of Molecular Biology, Qingdao Vland Biotech Inc., Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Wen-Jing Chen
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Zeng-Xin Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Qian-Qian Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, People's Republic of China
| | - Min Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Lian He
- Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Xu-Hua Mo
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Chong Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China
| | - Chang-Tai Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Meng-Ying Wang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China
| | - Xin-Hui Xing
- Key Laboratory of Industrial Biocatalysis, Ministry of Education, Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Center for Synthetic and Systems Biology, Tsinghua University, Beijing, People's Republic of China; Institute of Biopharmaceutical and Health Engineering, Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, And Institute of Biomedical Health Technology and Engineering, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen, China
| | - Song Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Shandong Province Key Laboratory of Applied Mycology, And Qingdao International Center on Microbes Utilizing Biogas, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, People's Republic of China; Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Ministry of Education, Tianjin University, Tianjin, People's Republic of China.
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32
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Adaptive laboratory evolution of methylotrophic Escherichia coli enables synthesis of all amino acids from methanol-derived carbon. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 105:869-876. [PMID: 33404828 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-11058-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/13/2020] [Revised: 09/21/2020] [Accepted: 12/10/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Recent attempts to create synthetic Escherichia coli methylotrophs identified that de novo biosynthesis of amino acids, in the presence of methanol, presents significant challenges in achieving autonomous methylotrophic growth. Previously engineered methanol-dependent strains required co-utilization of stoichiometric amounts of co-substrates and methanol. As such, these strains could not be evolved to grow on methanol alone. In this work, we have explored an alternative approach to enable biosynthesis of all amino acids from methanol-derived carbon in minimal media without stoichiometric coupling. First, we identified that biosynthesis of threonine was limiting the growth of our methylotrophic E. coli. To address this, we performed adaptive laboratory evolution to generate a strain that grew efficiently in minimal medium with methanol and threonine. Methanol assimilation and growth of the evolved strain were analyzed, and, interestingly, we found that the evolved strain synthesized all amino acids, including threonine, from methanol-derived carbon. The evolved strain was then further engineered through overexpression of an optimized threonine biosynthetic pathway. We show that the resulting methylotrophic E. coli strain has a methanol-dependent growth phenotype with homoserine as co-substrate. In contrast to previous methanol-dependent strains, co-utilization of homoserine is not stoichiometrically linked to methanol assimilation. As such, future engineering of this strain and successive adaptive evolution could enable autonomous growth on methanol as the sole carbon source. KEY POINTS: • Adaptive evolution of E. coli enables biosynthesis of all amino acids from methanol. • Overexpression of threonine biosynthesis pathway improves methanol assimilation. • Methanol-dependent growth is seen in minimal media with homoserine as co-substrate.
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33
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Jawaharraj K, Shrestha N, Chilkoor G, Dhiman SS, Islam J, Gadhamshetty V. Valorization of methane from environmental engineering applications: A critical review. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 187:116400. [PMID: 32979578 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2020.116400] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 09/05/2020] [Indexed: 05/09/2023]
Abstract
Wastewater and waste management sectors alone account for 18% of the anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions. This study presents a critical overview of methanotrophs ("methane oxidizing microorganisms") for valorizing typically discarded CH4 from environmental engineering applications, focusing on wastewater treatment plants. Methanotrophs can convert CH4 into valuable bioproducts including chemicals, biodiesel, DC electricity, polymers, and S-layers, all under ambient conditions. As discarded CH4 and its oxidation products can also be used as a carbon source in nitrification and annamox processes. Here we discuss modes of CH4 assimilation by methanotrophs in both natural and engineered systems. We also highlight the technical challenges and technological breakthroughs needed to enable targeted CH4 oxidation in wastewater treatment plants.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kalimuthu Jawaharraj
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; BuG ReMeDEE consortium, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States
| | - Namita Shrestha
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, Terre Haute 47803, IN, United States
| | - Govinda Chilkoor
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; 2-Dimensional Materials for Biofilm Engineering Science and Technology (2DBEST) Center, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States
| | - Saurabh Sudha Dhiman
- BuG ReMeDEE consortium, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; Biological and Chemical Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines & Technology, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States
| | - Jamil Islam
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; BuG ReMeDEE consortium, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States
| | - Venkataramana Gadhamshetty
- Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; BuG ReMeDEE consortium, South Dakota Mines, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States; 2-Dimensional Materials for Biofilm Engineering Science and Technology (2DBEST) Center, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City 57701, SD, United States.
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Adaptive laboratory evolution of native methanol assimilation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Nat Commun 2020; 11:5564. [PMID: 33149159 PMCID: PMC7643182 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19390-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2019] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Utilising one-carbon substrates such as carbon dioxide, methane, and methanol is vital to address the current climate crisis. Methylotrophic metabolism enables growth and energy generation from methanol, providing an alternative to sugar fermentation. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an important industrial microorganism for which growth on one-carbon substrates would be relevant. However, its ability to metabolize methanol has been poorly characterised. Here, using adaptive laboratory evolution and 13C-tracer analysis, we discover that S. cerevisiae has a native capacity for methylotrophy. A systems biology approach reveals that global rearrangements in central carbon metabolism fluxes, gene expression changes, and a truncation of the uncharacterized transcriptional regulator Ygr067cp supports improved methylotrophy in laboratory evolved S. cerevisiae. This research paves the way for further biotechnological development and fundamental understanding of methylotrophy in the preeminent eukaryotic model organism and industrial workhorse, S. cerevisiae. Methylotrophic metabolism enables growth on methanol, an alternative to sugar fermentation. Here the authors use adaptive laboratory evolution to uncover native methylotrophy capacity in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
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Kyle Bennett R, Agee A, Har JRG, von Hagel B, Antoniewicz MR, Papoutsakis ET. Regulatory interventions improve the biosynthesis of limiting amino acids from methanol carbon to improve synthetic methylotrophy in Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Bioeng 2020; 118:43-57. [PMID: 32876943 DOI: 10.1002/bit.27549] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2020] [Revised: 07/29/2020] [Accepted: 08/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Synthetic methylotrophy aims to engineer methane and methanol utilization pathways in platform hosts like Escherichia coli for industrial bioprocessing of natural gas and biogas. While recent attempts to engineer synthetic methylotrophs have proved successful, autonomous methylotrophy, that is, the ability to utilize methane or methanol as sole carbon and energy substrates, has not yet been realized. Here, we address an important limitation of autonomous methylotrophy in E. coli: the inability of the organism to synthesize several amino acids when grown on methanol. We targeted global and local amino acid regulatory networks. Those include removal of amino acid allosteric feedback inhibition (argAH15Y , ilvAL447F , hisGE271K , leuAG462D , proBD107N , thrAS345F , trpES40F ), knockouts of transcriptional repressors (ihfA, metJ); and overexpression of amino acid biosynthetic operons (hisGDCBHAFI, leuABCD, thrABC, trpEDCBA) and transcriptional regulators (crp, purR). Compared to the parent methylotrophic E. coli strain that was unable to synthesize these amino acids from methanol carbon, these strategies resulted in improved biosynthesis of limiting proteinogenic amino acids (histidine, leucine, lysine, methionine, phenylalanine, threonine, tyrosine) from methanol carbon. In several cases, improved amino acid biosynthesis from methanol carbon led to improvements in methylotrophic growth in methanol minimal medium supplemented with a small amount of yeast extract. This study addresses a key limitation currently preventing autonomous methylotrophy in E. coli and possibly other synthetic methylotrophs and provides insight as to how this limitation can be alleviated via global and local regulatory modifications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert Kyle Bennett
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.,The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Alec Agee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.,The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Jie R G Har
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Bryan von Hagel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.,The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Maciek R Antoniewicz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
| | - Eleftherios T Papoutsakis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA.,The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, USA
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Seong W, Han GH, Lim HS, Baek JI, Kim SJ, Kim D, Kim SK, Lee H, Kim H, Lee SG, Lee DH. Adaptive laboratory evolution of Escherichia coli lacking cellular byproduct formation for enhanced acetate utilization through compensatory ATP consumption. Metab Eng 2020; 62:249-259. [PMID: 32931907 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.09.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/26/2020] [Revised: 08/18/2020] [Accepted: 09/08/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Acetate has attracted great attention as a carbon source to develop economically feasible bioprocesses for sustainable bioproducts. Acetate is a less-preferred carbon source and a well-known growth inhibitor of Escherichia coli. In this study, we carried out adaptive laboratory evolution of an E. coli strain lacking four genes (adhE, pta, ldhA, and frdA) involved in acetyl-CoA consumption, allowing the efficient utilization of acetate as its sole carbon and energy source. Four genomic mutations were found in the evolved strain through whole-genome sequencing, and two major mutations (in cspC and patZ) mainly contributed to efficient utilization of acetate and tolerance to acetate. Transcriptomic reprogramming was examined by analyzing the genome-wide transcriptome with different carbon sources. The evolved strain showed high levels of intracellular ATP by upregulation of genes involved in NADH and ATP biosynthesis, which facilitated the production of enhanced green fluorescent protein, mevalonate, and n-butanol using acetate alone. This new strain, given its high acetate tolerance and high ATP levels, has potential as a starting host for cell factories targeting the production of acetyl-CoA-derived products from acetate or of products requiring high ATP levels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Wonjae Seong
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Gui Hwan Han
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Center for Industrialization of Agricultural and Livestock Microorganism (CIALM), Jeongeup, 56212, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Seung Lim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Ji In Baek
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134, Republic of Korea
| | - Soo-Jung Kim
- Department of Integrative Food, Bioscience and Technology, Chonnam National University, Gwangju, 61186, Republic of Korea
| | - Donghyuk Kim
- School of Energy and Chemical Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), Ulsan, 44919, Republic of Korea
| | - Seong Keun Kim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyewon Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea
| | - Haseong Kim
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea
| | - Seung-Goo Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
| | - Dae-Hee Lee
- Synthetic Biology and Bioengineering Research Center, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology (KRIBB), Daejeon, 34141, Republic of Korea; Department of Biosystems and Bioengineering, KRIBB School of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology (UST), Daejeon, 34113, Republic of Korea.
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Methanol Production by " Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum" SolV under Different Growth Conditions. Appl Environ Microbiol 2020; 86:AEM.01188-20. [PMID: 32631865 PMCID: PMC7480378 DOI: 10.1128/aem.01188-20] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/20/2020] [Accepted: 06/30/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The production of methanol, an important chemical, is completely dependent on natural gas. The current multistep chemical process uses high temperature and pressure to convert methane in natural gas to methanol. In this study, we used the methanotroph “Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum” SolV to achieve continuous methanol production from methane as the substrate. The production rate was highly dependent on the growth rate of this microorganism, and high conversion efficiencies were obtained. Using microorganisms for the production of methanol might enable the use of more sustainable sources of methane, such as biogas, rather than natural gas. Industrial methanol production converts methane from natural gas into methanol through a multistep chemical process. Biological methane-to-methanol conversion under moderate conditions and using biogas would be more environmentally friendly. Methanotrophs, bacteria that use methane as an energy source, convert methane into methanol in a single step catalyzed by the enzyme methane monooxygenase, but inhibition of methanol dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the subsequent conversion of methanol into formaldehyde, is a major challenge. In this study, we used the thermoacidophilic methanotroph “Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum” SolV for biological methanol production. This bacterium possesses a XoxF-type methanol dehydrogenase that is dependent on rare earth elements for activity. By using a cultivation medium nearly devoid of lanthanides, we reduced methanol dehydrogenase activity and obtained a continuous methanol-producing microbial culture. The methanol production rate and conversion efficiency were growth-rate dependent. A maximal conversion efficiency of 63% mol methanol produced per mol methane consumed was obtained at a relatively high growth rate, with a methanol production rate of 0.88 mmol/g (dry weight)/h. This study demonstrates that methanotrophs can be used for continuous methanol production. Full-scale application will require additional increases in the titer, production rate, and efficiency, which can be achieved by further decreasing the lanthanide concentration through the use of increased biomass concentrations and novel reactor designs to supply sufficient gases, including methane, oxygen, and hydrogen. IMPORTANCE The production of methanol, an important chemical, is completely dependent on natural gas. The current multistep chemical process uses high temperature and pressure to convert methane in natural gas to methanol. In this study, we used the methanotroph “Methylacidiphilum fumariolicum” SolV to achieve continuous methanol production from methane as the substrate. The production rate was highly dependent on the growth rate of this microorganism, and high conversion efficiencies were obtained. Using microorganisms for the production of methanol might enable the use of more sustainable sources of methane, such as biogas, rather than natural gas.
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Chen FYH, Jung HW, Tsuei CY, Liao JC. Converting Escherichia coli to a Synthetic Methylotroph Growing Solely on Methanol. Cell 2020; 182:933-946.e14. [PMID: 32780992 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2020.07.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 111] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/28/2020] [Revised: 06/08/2020] [Accepted: 07/09/2020] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Methanol, being electron rich and derivable from methane or CO2, is a potentially renewable one-carbon (C1) feedstock for microorganisms. Although the ribulose monophosphate (RuMP) cycle used by methylotrophs to assimilate methanol differs from the typical sugar metabolism by only three enzymes, turning a non-methylotrophic organism to a synthetic methylotroph that grows to a high cell density has been challenging. Here we reprogrammed E. coli using metabolic robustness criteria followed by laboratory evolution to establish a strain that can efficiently utilize methanol as the sole carbon source. This synthetic methylotroph alleviated a so far uncharacterized hurdle, DNA-protein crosslinking (DPC), by insertion sequence (IS)-mediated copy number variations (CNVs) and balanced the metabolic flux by mutations. Being capable of growing at a rate comparable with natural methylotrophs in a wide range of methanol concentrations, this synthetic methylotrophic strain illustrates genome editing and evolution for microbial tropism changes and expands the scope of biological C1 conversion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Frederic Y-H Chen
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan; Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Hsin-Wei Jung
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Chao-Yin Tsuei
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - James C Liao
- Institute of Biological Chemistry, Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan.
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Tuyishime P, Sinumvayo JP. Novel outlook in engineering synthetic methylotrophs and formatotrophs: a course for advancing C1-based chemicals production. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 36:118. [DOI: 10.1007/s11274-020-02899-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2020] [Accepted: 07/13/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
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40
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Wang J, Jian X, Xing XH, Zhang C, Fei Q. Empowering a Methanol-Dependent Escherichia coli via Adaptive Evolution Using a High-Throughput Microbial Microdroplet Culture System. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:570. [PMID: 32733857 PMCID: PMC7363950 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Recently, a methanol-essential Escherichia coli was constructed; this strain is highly dependent on a supply of gluconate as a co-substrate for growth. Adaptive laboratory evolution is commonly applied to obtain mutants with specific phenotypes under certain selected pressure. However, conventional adaptive evolution approaches are not only laborious and time consuming, but they also come with lower throughput and inefficiency. In order to empower the aforementioned E. coli with reduced gluconate usage and enhanced growth rate, an irrational strategy based on a microbial microdroplet culture (MMC) platform was developed in this study. Given the automatic high-throughput selection of the MMC, a three-stage regime of an adaptive evolution experiment via gradually decreasing the availability of gluconate during the cultivation was performed for 50 days continuously in order to obtain the mutations. Finally, a candidate mutant was obtained with a 3-fold faster growth rate, a 43% shorter lag phase, and 40% less gluconate usage compared with the starting strain. Moreover, the gene mutations of gntU, idnT, edd, and pckA were identified by analyzing the whole-genome sequencing of mutants, which are strongly associated with the efficiency of gluconate uptake and cell growth. In conclusion, we have successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using MMC platform to empower the target strain with specific requirements in a manner of labor, time efficiency, and directed evolution.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Wang
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Xingjin Jian
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Xin-Hui Xing
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory for Industrial Biocatalysis of the Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Chong Zhang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.,Key Laboratory for Industrial Biocatalysis of the Ministry of Education, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Qiang Fei
- School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China.,Shaanxi Key Laboratory of Energy Chemical Process Intensification, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
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41
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A falling film bioreactor (FFBR) for generating effective gas-to-liquid mass transfer using wavy laminar flow for continuous microbial gas processing. Chem Eng Sci 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ces.2020.115592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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42
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Wang Y, Fan L, Tuyishime P, Liu J, Zhang K, Gao N, Zhang Z, Ni X, Feng J, Yuan Q, Ma H, Zheng P, Sun J, Ma Y. Adaptive laboratory evolution enhances methanol tolerance and conversion in engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum. Commun Biol 2020; 3:217. [PMID: 32382107 PMCID: PMC7205612 DOI: 10.1038/s42003-020-0954-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2019] [Accepted: 04/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Synthetic methylotrophy has recently been intensively studied to achieve methanol-based biomanufacturing of fuels and chemicals. However, attempts to engineer platform microorganisms to utilize methanol mainly focus on enzyme and pathway engineering. Herein, we enhanced methanol bioconversion of synthetic methylotrophs by improving cellular tolerance to methanol. A previously engineered methanol-dependent Corynebacterium glutamicum is subjected to adaptive laboratory evolution with elevated methanol content. Unexpectedly, the evolved strain not only tolerates higher concentrations of methanol but also shows improved growth and methanol utilization. Transcriptome analysis suggests increased methanol concentrations rebalance methylotrophic metabolism by down-regulating glycolysis and up-regulating amino acid biosynthesis, oxidative phosphorylation, ribosome biosynthesis, and parts of TCA cycle. Mutations in the O-acetyl-l-homoserine sulfhydrylase Cgl0653 catalyzing formation of l-methionine analog from methanol and methanol-induced membrane-bound transporter Cgl0833 are proven crucial for methanol tolerance. This study demonstrates the importance of tolerance engineering in developing superior synthetic methylotrophs. Wang et al. improve the methanol tolerance for the synthetic methylotroph, Corynebacterium glutamicum. They generate 3 new strains by directed evolution and use biochemical, transcriptomic, and genetic approaches to characterize the pathways underlying the enhanced methanol metabolism. Their findings are important for biomanufacturing purposes.
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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
| | - Jiao Liu
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
| | - Kun Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Ning Gao
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Zhihui Zhang
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China
| | - Xiaomeng Ni
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
| | - Jinhui Feng
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
| | - Qianqian Yuan
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
| | - Hongwu Ma
- 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. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Jibin Sun
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China.
| | - Yanhe Ma
- Key Laboratory of Systems Microbial Biotechnology, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, 300308, China
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43
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Triggering the stringent response enhances synthetic methanol utilization in Escherichia coli. Metab Eng 2020; 61:1-10. [PMID: 32360074 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.04.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2019] [Revised: 04/06/2020] [Accepted: 04/16/2020] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic methylotrophy aims to engineer methane and methanol utilization pathways in platform hosts like Escherichia coli for industrial bioprocessing of natural gas and biogas. While recent attempts to engineer synthetic methylotrophs have proved successful, autonomous methylotrophy, i.e. the ability to utilize methane or methanol as sole carbon and energy substrates, has not yet been realized. Here, we address an important limitation of autonomous methylotrophy in E. coli: the inability of the organism to synthesize several amino acids when grown on methanol. By activating the stringent/stress response via ppGpp overproduction, or DksA and RpoS overexpression, we demonstrate improved biosynthesis of proteinogenic amino acids via endogenous upregulation of amino acid synthesis pathway genes. Thus, we were able to achieve biosynthesis of several limiting amino acids from methanol-derived carbon, in contrast to the control methylotrophic E. coli strain. This study addresses a key limitation currently preventing autonomous methylotrophy in E. coli and possibly other synthetic methylotrophs and provides insight as to how this limitation can be alleviated via stringent/stress response activation.
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Bennett RK, Dillon M, Gerald Har JR, Agee A, von Hagel B, Rohlhill J, Antoniewicz MR, Papoutsakis ET. Engineering Escherichia coli for methanol-dependent growth on glucose for metabolite production. Metab Eng 2020; 60:45-55. [PMID: 32179162 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.03.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Revised: 02/25/2020] [Accepted: 03/08/2020] [Indexed: 02/05/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic methylotrophy aims to engineer methane and methanol utilization pathways in platform hosts like Escherichia coli for industrial bioprocessing of natural gas and biogas. While recent attempts to engineer synthetic methanol auxotrophs have proved successful, these studies focused on scarce and expensive co-substrates. Here, we engineered E. coli for methanol-dependent growth on glucose, an abundant and inexpensive co-substrate, via deletion of glucose 6-phosphate isomerase (pgi), phosphogluconate dehydratase (edd), and ribose 5-phosphate isomerases (rpiAB). Since the parental strain did not exhibit methanol-dependent growth on glucose in minimal medium, we first achieved methanol-dependent growth via amino acid supplementation and used this medium to evolve the strain for methanol-dependent growth in glucose minimal medium. The evolved strain exhibited a maximum growth rate of 0.15 h-1 in glucose minimal medium with methanol, which is comparable to that of other synthetic methanol auxotrophs. Whole genome sequencing and 13C-metabolic flux analysis revealed the causative mutations in the evolved strain. A mutation in the phosphotransferase system enzyme I gene (ptsI) resulted in a reduced glucose uptake rate to maintain a one-to-one molar ratio of substrate utilization. Deletion of the e14 prophage DNA region resulted in two non-synonymous mutations in the isocitrate dehydrogenase (icd) gene, which reduced TCA cycle carbon flux to maintain the internal redox state. In high cell density glucose fed-batch fermentation, methanol-dependent acetone production resulted in 22% average carbon labeling of acetone from 13C-methanol, which far surpasses that of the previous best (2.4%) found with methylotrophic E. coli Δpgi. This study addresses the need to identify appropriate co-substrates for engineering synthetic methanol auxotrophs and provides a basis for the next steps toward industrial one-carbon bioprocessing.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Kyle Bennett
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Michael Dillon
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Jie Ren Gerald Har
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Alec Agee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Bryan von Hagel
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Julia Rohlhill
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Maciek R Antoniewicz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
| | - Eleftherios T Papoutsakis
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA; The Delaware Biotechnology Institute, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, USA.
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Hou Q, Yang Z, Chen S, Pei H. Using an anaerobic digestion tank as the anodic chamber of an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell to improve energy production from food waste. WATER RESEARCH 2020; 170:115305. [PMID: 31765826 DOI: 10.1016/j.watres.2019.115305] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2019] [Revised: 11/11/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Anaerobic digestion is sensitive to a wide variety of inhibitory substances that are the primary cause of anaerobic digester failure. Herein, an anaerobic digestion (AD) tank, which also functioned as the anodic chamber of an algae-assisted microbial fuel cell (AMFC), was established to treat food waste (FW) under an inhibition-relieved condition. About 2.9 L of CH4 was yielded by the AD-AMFC system, which was more than double the CH4 produced by the AD system, and 34% higher than that from the AD-MFC system. The result suggests that the bioelectrochemical system and algae successfully improved the AD performance and energy production. The AD-AMFC system had the highest volatile fatty acid (VFA) concentration in the initial 20 days, but it maintained the lowest VFA concentration in the following days. Those results indicate that the AMFC shortened the acclimatisation phase of the AD process and then alleviated the adverse impact of VFAs by consuming VFAs as a substrate for electricity generation. Alkalinity generated by algal growth and cathode reactions buffered the H+ that migrated from the anolyte, which facilitated the pH recovery of the AD process. Ammonia inhibition of the AD was also relieved by the AMFC through reduction of the ammonia concentration to less than 500 mg/L in the anolyte. Additionally, the COD removal rate was improved to 89%, since the AMFC facilitated the decomposition of large molecules. The present study developed a practical structure for an AD tank and also explained the reason as to why the AMFC improved the AD performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qingjie Hou
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Zhigang Yang
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Shuaiqi Chen
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China
| | - Haiyan Pei
- School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, 266237, China; Shandong Provincial Engineering Center on Environmental Science and Technology, Jinan, 250061, China.
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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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Sorokin VV, Pshenichnikova AB, Kalenov SV, Suyasov NA, Skladnev DA. Comparison of the Wild-Type Obligate Methylotrophic Bacterium Methylophilus quaylei and its Isogenic Streptomycin-Resistant Mutant via Metal Nanoparticle Generation. Biol Trace Elem Res 2020; 193:564-573. [PMID: 31073700 PMCID: PMC6944653 DOI: 10.1007/s12011-019-01740-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2019] [Accepted: 04/22/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Metal nanoparticles synthesized by green methods with the use of microorganisms are currently one of the most closely studied types of nanomaterials. It has accurately been shown that the characteristics of metal nanoparticles generated in the presence of different bacteria vary. For the two isogenic strains of obligate methylotrophic bacteria of the wild type (M. quaylei MTT) and its streptomycin-resistant mutant (M. quaylei SMR), the pleiotropic character of streptomycin resistance mutation in the SMR cells has been revealed. It has been shown that both cultures can generate silver nanoparticles. There is a dramatic difference in the formation of palladium nanoparticles, which are formed only in the presence of cells of the streptomycin-resistant mutant M. quaylei SMR. This study shows that closely related isogenic strains of obligate methylotrophic bacteria can be distinguished by the spectra of biogenic nanoparticles of two noble metals. While palladium nanoparticles are only generated by the cells of the streptomycin-resistant mutant M. quaylei SMR, biogenic silver nanoparticles can be generated from both cultures. Thus, the assessment of the ability of microorganisms to form biogenic nanoparticles of different metals allows the revelation of subtle metabolic differences of even close cultures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vladimir V Sorokin
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 33, Bld. 2 Leninsky Ave., Moscow, Russia
| | - Anna B Pshenichnikova
- Department of Biotechnology and Industrial Pharmacy, MIREA - Russian Technological University, 86 Vernadsky Avenue, Moscow, Russia
| | - Sergei V Kalenov
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Industrial Ecology, D.I. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, 9 Miusskaya Square, Moscow, Russia.
| | - Nikolay A Suyasov
- Department of Biotechnology, Faculty of Biotechnology and Industrial Ecology, D.I. Mendeleyev University of Chemical Technology of Russia, 9 Miusskaya Square, Moscow, Russia
| | - Dmitry A Skladnev
- Winogradsky Institute of Microbiology, Research Center of Biotechnology of the Russian Academy of Sciences, 33, Bld. 2 Leninsky Ave., Moscow, Russia
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Chu N, Liang Q, Jiang Y, Zeng RJ. Microbial electrochemical platform for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Biosens Bioelectron 2020; 150:111922. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bios.2019.111922] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2019] [Revised: 11/23/2019] [Accepted: 11/25/2019] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
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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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50
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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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