Protein identification in two phases of 1,3-propanediol production by proteomic analysis

Clostridium butyricum maximizes growth while minimizing enzyme usage and ATP production: metabolic flux distribution of a strain cultured in glycerol

BACKGROUND

The increase in glycerol obtained as a byproduct of biodiesel has encouraged the production of new industrial products, such as 1,3-propanediol (PDO), using biotechnological transformation via bacteria like Clostridium butyricum. However, despite the increasing role of Clostridium butyricum as a bio-production platform, its metabolism remains poorly modeled.

RESULTS

We reconstructed iCbu641, the first genome-scale metabolic (GSM) model of a PDO producer Clostridium strain, which included 641 genes, 365 enzymes, 891 reactions, and 701 metabolites. We found an enzyme expression prediction of nearly 84% after comparison of proteomic data with flux distribution estimation using flux balance analysis (FBA). The remaining 16% corresponded to enzymes directionally coupled to growth, according to flux coupling findings (FCF). The fermentation data validation also revealed different phenotype states that depended on culture media conditions; for example, Clostridium maximizes its biomass yield per enzyme usage under glycerol limitation. By contrast, under glycerol excess conditions, Clostridium grows sub-optimally, maximizing biomass yield while minimizing both enzyme usage and ATP production. We further evaluated perturbations in the GSM model through enzyme deletions and variations in biomass composition. The GSM predictions showed no significant increase in PDO production, suggesting a robustness to perturbations in the GSM model. We used the experimental results to predict that co-fermentation was a better alternative than iCbu641 perturbations for improving PDO yields.

CONCLUSIONS

The agreement between the predicted and experimental values allows the use of the GSM model constructed for the PDO-producing Clostridium strain to propose new scenarios for PDO production, such as dynamic simulations, thereby reducing the time and costs associated with experimentation.

Reduced catabolic protein expression in Clostridium butyricum DSM 10702 correlate with reduced 1,3-propanediol synthesis at high glycerol loading

Higher initial glycerol loadings (620 mM) have a negative effect on growth and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) synthesis in Clostridium butyricum DSM 10702 relative to lower initial glycerol concentrations (170 mM). To help understand metabolic shifts associated with elevated glycerol, protein expression levels were quantified by LC/MS/MS analyses. Thirty one (31) proteins involved in conversion of glycerol to 1,3-PDO and other by-products were analyzed by multiple reaction monitoring (MRM). The analyses revealed that high glycerol concentrations reduced cell growth. The expression levels of most proteins in glycerol catabolism pathways were down-regulated, consistent with the slower growth rates observed. However, at high initial glycerol concentrations, some of the proteins involved in the butyrate synthesis pathways such as a putative ethanol dehydrogenase (CBY_3753) and a 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydrogenase (CBY_3045) were up-regulated in both exponential and stationary growth phases. Expression levels of proteins (CBY_0500, CBY_0501 and CBY_0502) involved in the reductive pathway of glycerol to 1,3-PDO were consistent with glycerol consumption and product concentrations observed during fermentation at both glycerol concentrations, and the molar yields of 1,3-PDO were similar in both cultures. This is the first report that correlates expression levels of glycerol catabolism enzymes with synthesis of 1,3-PDO in C. butyricum. The results revealed that significant differences in the expression of a small subset of proteins were observed between exponential and stationary growth phases at both low and high glycerol concentrations.