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Lubkowicz D, Hava DL, Lewis K, Isabella VM. Rational Engineering of Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 as Live Biotherapeutic to Degrade Uremic Toxin Precursors. ACS Synth Biol 2024; 13:1077-1084. [PMID: 38588591 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.3c00686] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/10/2024]
Abstract
Uremic toxins (UTs) are microbiota-derived metabolites that accelerate the progression of kidney damage in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). One of the major UTs involved in CKD progression is p-cresol-sulfate (PCS), derived from dietary l-tyrosine (l-Tyr). Here, we engineered a probiotic strain of Escherichia coli Nissle 1917, to convert l-Tyr to the nontoxic compound p-coumaric acid via tyrosine ammonia lyase (TAL). First, a small metagenomic library was assessed to identify the TAL with the greatest whole-cell activity. Second, accessory genes implicated in the import of l-Tyr and export of PCA were overexpressed to enhance l-Tyr degradation by 106% and 56%, respectively. Last, random mutagenesis coupled to a novel selection and screening strategy was developed that identified a TAL variant with a 25% increase in whole-cell activity. Taken together, the final strain exhibits a 183% improvement over initial whole-cell activity and provides a promising candidate to degrade l-Tyr mediated PCS accumulation.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Lubkowicz
- Synlogic Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - David L Hava
- Synlogic Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts 02142, United States
| | - Kim Lewis
- Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States
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2
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Mutz M, Brüning V, Brüsseler C, Müller M, Noack S, Marienhagen J. Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of anthranilate from glucose and xylose. Microb Biotechnol 2024; 17:e14388. [PMID: 38206123 PMCID: PMC10832554 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14388] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2023] [Revised: 11/28/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/12/2024] Open
Abstract
Anthranilate and its derivatives are important basic chemicals for the synthesis of polyurethanes as well as various dyes and food additives. Today, anthranilate is mainly chemically produced from petroleum-derived xylene, but this shikimate pathway intermediate could be also obtained biotechnologically. In this study, Corynebacterium glutamicum was engineered for the microbial production of anthranilate from a carbon source mixture of glucose and xylose. First, a feedback-resistant 3-deoxy-arabinoheptulosonate-7-phosphate synthase from Escherichia coli, catalysing the first step of the shikimate pathway, was functionally introduced into C. glutamicum to enable anthranilate production. Modulation of the translation efficiency of the genes for the shikimate kinase (aroK) and the anthranilate phosphoribosyltransferase (trpD) improved product formation. Deletion of two genes, one for a putative phosphatase (nagD) and one for a quinate/shikimate dehydrogenase (qsuD), abolished by-product formation of glycerol and quinate. However, the introduction of an engineered anthranilate synthase (TrpEG) unresponsive to feedback inhibition by tryptophan had the most pronounced effect on anthranilate production. Component I of this enzyme (TrpE) was engineered using a biosensor-based in vivo screening strategy for identifying variants with increased feedback resistance in a semi-rational library of TrpE muteins. The final strain accumulated up to 5.9 g/L (43 mM) anthranilate in a defined CGXII medium from a mixture of glucose and xylose in bioreactor cultivations. We believe that the constructed C. glutamicum variants are not only limited to anthranilate production but could also be suitable for the synthesis of other biotechnologically interesting shikimate pathway intermediates or any other aromatic compound derived thereof.
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Affiliation(s)
- Mario Mutz
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
- Institute of BiotechnologyRWTH Aachen UniversityAachenGermany
| | - Vincent Brüning
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
| | - Christian Brüsseler
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
| | - Moritz‐Fabian Müller
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
| | - Stephan Noack
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
| | - Jan Marienhagen
- Institute of Bio‐ and Geosciences, IBG‐1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum JülichJülichGermany
- Institute of BiotechnologyRWTH Aachen UniversityAachenGermany
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3
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Augustiniene E, Kutraite I, Valanciene E, Matulis P, Jonuskiene I, Malys N. Transcription factor-based biosensors for detection of naturally occurring phenolic acids. N Biotechnol 2023; 78:1-12. [PMID: 37714511 DOI: 10.1016/j.nbt.2023.09.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2023] [Revised: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 09/12/2023] [Indexed: 09/17/2023]
Abstract
Phenolic acids including hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids are secondary plant and fungal metabolites involved in many physiological processes offering health and dietary benefits. They are often utilised as precursors for production of value-added compounds. The limited availability of synthetic biology tools, such as whole-cell biosensors suitable for monitoring the dynamics of phenolic acids intracellularly and extracellularly, hinders the capabilities to develop high-throughput screens to study their metabolism and forward engineering. Here, by applying a multi-genome approach, we have identified phenolic acid-inducible gene expression systems composed of transcription factor-inducible promoter pairs responding to eleven different phenolic acids. Subsequently, they were used for the development of whole-cell biosensors based on model bacterial hosts, such as Escherichia coli, Cupriavidus necator and Pseudomonas putida. The dynamics and range of the biosensors were evaluated by establishing their response and sensitivity landscapes. The specificity and previously uncharacterised interactions between transcription factor and its effector(s) were identified by a screen of twenty major phenolic acids. To exemplify applicability, we utilise a protocatechuic acid-biosensor to identify enzymes with enhanced activity for conversion of p-hydroxybenzoate to protocatechuate. Transcription factor-based biosensors developed in this study will advance the analytics of phenolic acids and expedite research into their metabolism.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ernesta Augustiniene
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Ingrida Kutraite
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Egle Valanciene
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Paulius Matulis
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Ilona Jonuskiene
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania
| | - Naglis Malys
- Bioprocess Research Centre, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania; Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemical Technology, Kaunas University of Technology, Radvilenu st. 19, LT-50254 Kaunas, Lithuania.
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4
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Zheng D, Zhang J, Jiang W, Xu Y, Meng H, Poh CL, Chen CH. Graphene oxide aptasensor droplet assay for detection of metabolites secreted by single cells applied to synthetic biology. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 24:137-147. [PMID: 38054213 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00959a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/07/2023]
Abstract
Synthetic biology harnesses the power of natural microbes by re-engineering metabolic pathways to manufacture desired compounds. Droplet technology has emerged as a high-throughput tool to screen single cells for synthetic biology, while the challenges in sensitive flexible single-cell secretion assay for bioproduction of high-value chemicals remained. Here, a novel droplet modifiable graphene oxide (GO) aptasensor was developed, enabling sensitive flexible detection of different target compounds secreted from single cells. Fluorophore-labeled aptamers were stably anchored on GO through π-π stacking interactions to minimize the non-specific interactions for low-background detection of target compounds with high signal-to-noise ratios. The assay's versatility was exhibited by adapting aptamer sequences to measure metabolic secretions like ATP and naringenin. To show the case, engineered E. coli were constructed for the bioproduction of naringenin. The high signal-to-noise ratio assay (∼2.72) was approached to precisely measure the naringenins secreted from single E. coli in the droplets. Consequently, secretory cells (Gib) were clearly distinguished from wild-type (WT) cells, with a low overlap in cell populations (∼0%) for bioproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Zheng
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, 117583, Singapore.
| | - Jingyun Zhang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, 117583, Singapore.
| | - Wenxin Jiang
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Ying Xu
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Haixu Meng
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
| | - Chueh Loo Poh
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 3, 117583, Singapore.
| | - Chia-Hung Chen
- Department of Biomedical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, 83 Tat Chee Avenue, Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, China.
- City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute, Shenzhen Virtual University Park, Shenzhen, China
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Hwang HG, Ye DY, Jung GY. Biosensor-guided discovery and engineering of metabolic enzymes. Biotechnol Adv 2023; 69:108251. [PMID: 37690614 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108251] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/08/2023] [Revised: 09/04/2023] [Accepted: 09/05/2023] [Indexed: 09/12/2023]
Abstract
A variety of chemicals have been produced through metabolic engineering approaches, and enhancing biosynthesis performance can be achieved by using enzymes with high catalytic efficiency. Accordingly, a number of efforts have been made to discover enzymes in nature for various applications. In addition, enzyme engineering approaches have been attempted to suit specific industrial purposes. However, a significant challenge in enzyme discovery and engineering is the efficient screening of enzymes with the desired phenotype from extensive enzyme libraries. To overcome this bottleneck, genetically encoded biosensors have been developed to specifically detect target molecules produced by enzyme activity at the intracellular level. Especially, the biosensors facilitate high-throughput screening (HTS) of targeted enzymes, expanding enzyme discovery and engineering strategies with advances in systems and synthetic biology. This review examines biosensor-guided HTS systems and highlights studies that have utilized these tools to discover enzymes in diverse areas and engineer enzymes to enhance their properties, such as catalytic efficiency, specificity, and stability.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hyun Gyu Hwang
- Institute of Environmental and Energy Technology, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Dae-Yeol Ye
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyoo Yeol Jung
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea; School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk 37673, Republic of Korea.
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Tomoiagă RB, Ursu M, Boros K, Nagy LC, Bencze LC. Ancestral l-amino acid oxidase: From substrate scope exploration to phenylalanine ammonia-lyase assay. J Biotechnol 2023; 377:43-52. [PMID: 37890533 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbiotec.2023.10.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2023] [Revised: 10/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/23/2023] [Indexed: 10/29/2023]
Abstract
In this study we assessed the applicability of the recently reported ancestral l-amino acid oxidase (AncLAAO), for the development of an enzyme-coupled phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) activity assay. Firstly, the expression and isolation of the AncLAAO-N1 was optimized, followed by activity tests of the obtained octameric N-terminal His-tagged enzyme towards various phenylalanine analogues to assess the compatibility of its substrate scope with that of the well-characterized PALs. AncLAAO-N1 showed high catalytic efficiency towards phenylalanines mono-, di-, or multiple-substituted in the meta- or para-positions, with ortho- substituted substrates being poorly transformed, these results highlighting the significant overlap between its substrate scope and those of PALs. After successful set-up of the AncLAAO-PAL coupled solid phase assay, in a 'proof of concept' approach we demonstrated its applicability for the high-throughput activity screens of PAL-libraries, by screening the saturation mutagenesis-derived I460NNK variant library of PAL from Petroselinum crispum, using p-MeO-phenylalanine as model substrate. Notably, the hits revealed by the coupled assay comprised all the active PAL variants: I460V, I460T, I460S, I460L, previously identified from the tested PAL-library by other assays. Our results validate the applicability of AncLAAO for coupled enzyme systems with phenylalanine ammonia-lyases, including cell-based assays suitable for the high-throughput screening of directed evolution-derived PAL-libraries.
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Affiliation(s)
- Raluca Bianca Tomoiagă
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028, Romania
| | - Marcel Ursu
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028, Romania
| | - Krisztina Boros
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028, Romania
| | - Levente Csaba Nagy
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028, Romania
| | - László Csaba Bencze
- Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Babeș-Bolyai University, Arany János Street 11, Cluj-Napoca RO-400028, Romania.
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Baumann PT, Dal Molin M, Aring H, Krumbach K, Müller MF, Vroling B, van Summeren-Wesenhagen PV, Noack S, Marienhagen J. Beyond rational-biosensor-guided isolation of 100 independently evolved bacterial strain variants and comparative analysis of their genomes. BMC Biol 2023; 21:183. [PMID: 37667306 PMCID: PMC10478468 DOI: 10.1186/s12915-023-01688-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 09/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND In contrast to modern rational metabolic engineering, classical strain development strongly relies on random mutagenesis and screening for the desired production phenotype. Nowadays, with the availability of biosensor-based FACS screening strategies, these random approaches are coming back into fashion. In this study, we employ this technology in combination with comparative genome analyses to identify novel mutations contributing to product formation in the genome of a Corynebacterium glutamicum L-histidine producer. Since all known genetic targets contributing to L-histidine production have been already rationally engineered in this strain, identification of novel beneficial mutations can be regarded as challenging, as they might not be intuitively linkable to L-histidine biosynthesis. RESULTS In order to identify 100 improved strain variants that had each arisen independently, we performed > 600 chemical mutagenesis experiments, > 200 biosensor-based FACS screenings, isolated > 50,000 variants with increased fluorescence, and characterized > 4500 variants with regard to biomass formation and L-histidine production. Based on comparative genome analyses of these 100 variants accumulating 10-80% more L-histidine, we discovered several beneficial mutations. Combination of selected genetic modifications allowed for the construction of a strain variant characterized by a doubled L-histidine titer (29 mM) and product yield (0.13 C-mol C-mol-1) in comparison to the starting variant. CONCLUSIONS This study may serve as a blueprint for the identification of novel beneficial mutations in microbial producers in a more systematic manner. This way, also previously unexplored genes or genes with previously unknown contribution to the respective production phenotype can be identified. We believe that this technology has a great potential to push industrial production strains towards maximum performance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Philipp T Baumann
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Michael Dal Molin
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
- Department I of Internal Medicine, University of Cologne, 50937, Cologne, Germany
- Center for Molecular Medicine Cologne (CMMC), University of Cologne, 50931, Cologne, Germany
| | - Hannah Aring
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Karin Krumbach
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Moritz-Fabian Müller
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Bas Vroling
- Bioprodict GmbH, Nieuwe Marktstraat 54E, 6511AA, Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| | | | - Stephan Noack
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Jan Marienhagen
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, Forschungszentrum Jülich, IBG-1: Biotechnology, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
- Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, 52074, Aachen, Germany.
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Ogawa Y, Saito Y, Yamaguchi H, Katsuyama Y, Ohnishi Y. Engineering the Substrate Specificity of Toluene Degrading Enzyme XylM Using Biosensor XylS and Machine Learning. ACS Synth Biol 2023; 12:572-582. [PMID: 36734676 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.2c00577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Enzyme engineering using machine learning has been developed in recent years. However, to obtain a large amount of data on enzyme activities for training data, it is necessary to develop a high-throughput and accurate method for evaluating enzyme activities. Here, we examined whether a biosensor-based enzyme engineering method can be applied to machine learning. As a model experiment, we aimed to modify the substrate specificity of XylM, a rate-determining enzyme in a multistep oxidation reaction catalyzed by XylMABC in Pseudomonas putida. XylMABC naturally converts toluene and xylene to benzoic acid and toluic acid, respectively. We aimed to engineer XylM to improve its conversion efficiency to a non-native substrate, 2,6-xylenol. Wild-type XylMABC slightly converted 2,6-xylenol to 3-methylsalicylic acid, which is the ligand of the transcriptional regulator XylS in P. putida. By locating a fluorescent protein gene under the control of the Pm promoter to which XylS binds, a XylS-producing Escherichia coli strain showed higher fluorescence intensity in a 3-methylsalicylic acid concentration-dependent manner. We evaluated the 3-methylsalicylic acid productivity of XylM variants using the fluorescence intensity of the sensor strain as an indicator. The obtained data provided the training data for machine learning for the directed evolution of XylM. Two cycles of machine learning-assisted directed evolution resulted in the acquisition of XylM-D140E-V144K-F243L-N244S with 15 times higher productivity than wild-type XylM. These results demonstrate that an indirect enzyme activity evaluation method using biosensors is sufficiently quantitative and high-throughput to be used as training data for machine learning. The findings expand the versatility of machine learning in enzyme engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuki Ogawa
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8657, Japan
| | - Yutaka Saito
- Artificial Intelligence Research Center, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tokyo135-0064, Japan.,AIST-Waseda University Computational Bio Big-Data Open Innovation Laboratory (CBBD-OIL), Tokyo169-8555, Japan.,Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba277-8561, Japan
| | - Hideki Yamaguchi
- Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Chiba277-8561, Japan
| | - Yohei Katsuyama
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8657, Japan.,Collaborative Research Institute for Innovative Microbiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8657, Japan
| | - Yasuo Ohnishi
- Department of Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8657, Japan.,Collaborative Research Institute for Innovative Microbiology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo113-8657, Japan
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Ye DY, Noh MH, Moon JH, Milito A, Kim M, Lee JW, Yang JS, Jung GY. Kinetic compartmentalization by unnatural reaction for itaconate production. Nat Commun 2022; 13:5353. [PMID: 36097012 PMCID: PMC9468356 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-33033-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 08/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Physical compartmentalization of metabolism using membranous organelles in eukaryotes is helpful for chemical biosynthesis to ensure the availability of substrates from competitive metabolic reactions. Bacterial hosts lack such a membranous system, which is one of the major limitations for efficient metabolic engineering. Here, we employ kinetic compartmentalization with the introduction of an unnatural enzymatic reaction by an engineered enzyme as an alternative strategy to enable substrate availability from competitive reactions through kinetic isolation of metabolic pathways. As a proof of concept, we kinetically isolate the itaconate synthetic pathway from the tricarboxylic acid cycle in Escherichia coli, which is natively separated by mitochondrial membranes in Aspergillus terreus. Specifically, 2-methylcitrate dehydratase is engineered to alternatively catalyze citrate and kinetically secure cis-aconitate for efficient production using a high-throughput screening system. Itaconate production can be significantly improved with kinetic compartmentalization and its strategy has the potential to be widely applicable.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dae-Yeol Ye
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Myung Hyun Noh
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Jo Hyun Moon
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Alfonsina Milito
- Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain
| | - Minsun Kim
- School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeong Wook Lee
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea.,School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Jae-Seong Yang
- Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, 08193, Spain.
| | - Gyoo Yeol Jung
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea. .,School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-Ro, Nam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea.
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10
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Andon JS, Lee B, Wang T. Enzyme directed evolution using genetically encodable biosensors. Org Biomol Chem 2022; 20:5891-5906. [PMID: 35437559 DOI: 10.1039/d2ob00443g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
Directed evolution has been remarkably successful in identifying enzyme variants with new or improved properties, such as altered substrate scope or novel reactivity. Genetically encodable biosensors (GEBs), which convert the concentration of a small molecule ligand into an easily detectable output signal, have seen increasing application to enzyme directed evolution in the last decade. GEBs enable the use of high-throughput methods to assess enzyme activity of very large libraries, which can accelerate the search for variants with desirable activity. Here, we review different classes of GEBs and their properties in the context of enzyme evolution, how GEBs have been integrated into directed evolution workflows, and recent examples of enzyme evolution efforts utilizing GEBs. Finally, we discuss the advantages, challenges, and opportunities for using GEBs in the directed evolution of enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- James S Andon
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA
| | - ByungUk Lee
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
| | - Tina Wang
- Department of Chemistry, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI, 53706, USA.
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11
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Liu C, Yu H, Zhang B, Liu S, Liu CG, Li F, Song H. Engineering whole-cell microbial biosensors: Design principles and applications in monitoring and treatment of heavy metals and organic pollutants. Biotechnol Adv 2022; 60:108019. [PMID: 35853551 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2022.108019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2022] [Revised: 07/13/2022] [Accepted: 07/13/2022] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Biosensors have been widely used as cost-effective, rapid, in situ, and real-time analytical tools for monitoring environments. The development of synthetic biology has enabled emergence of genetically engineered whole-cell microbial biosensors. This review updates the design and optimization principles for a diverse array of whole-cell biosensors based on transcription factors (TF) including activators or repressors derived from heavy metal resistance systems, alkanes, and aromatics metabolic pathways of bacteria. By designing genetic circuits, the whole-cell biosensors could be engineered to intelligently sense heavy metals (Hg2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Au3+, Cd2+, As3+, Ni2+, Cu2+, and UO22+) or organic compounds (alcohols, alkanes, phenols, and benzenes) through one-component or two-component system-based TFs, transduce signals through genetic amplifiers, and response as various outputs such as cell fluorescence and bioelectricity for monitoring heavy metals and organic pollutants in real conditions, synthetic curli and surface metal-binding peptides for in situ bio-sorption of heavy metals. We further review strategies that have been implemented to optimize the selectivity and correlation between ligand concentration and output signal of the TF-based biosensors, so as to meet requirements of practical applications. The optimization strategies include protein engineering to change specificities, promoter engineering to improve sensitivities, and genetic circuit-based amplification to enhance dynamic ranges via designing transcriptional amplifiers, logic gates, and feedback loops. At last, we outlook future trends in developing novel forms of biosensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Changjiang Liu
- Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Huan Yu
- Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Baocai Zhang
- Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Shilin Liu
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Chen-Guang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences of Ministry of Education, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Feng Li
- Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
| | - Hao Song
- Frontiers Science Center for Synthetic Biology (Ministry of Education), Key Laboratory of Systems Bioengineering, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, China.
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12
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Transcription Factor-Based Biosensors for Detecting Pathogens. BIOSENSORS 2022; 12:bios12070470. [PMID: 35884273 PMCID: PMC9312912 DOI: 10.3390/bios12070470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2022] [Revised: 06/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/27/2022] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Microorganisms are omnipresent and inseparable from our life. Many of them are beneficial to humans, while some are not. Importantly, foods and beverages are susceptible to microbial contamination, with their toxins causing illnesses and even death in some cases. Therefore, monitoring and detecting harmful microorganisms are critical to ensuring human health and safety. For several decades, many methods have been developed to detect and monitor microorganisms and their toxicants. Conventionally, nucleic acid analysis and antibody-based analysis were used to detect pathogens. Additionally, diverse chromatographic methods were employed to detect toxins based on their chemical and structural properties. However, conventional techniques have several disadvantages concerning analysis time, sensitivity, and expense. With the advances in biotechnology, new approaches to detect pathogens and toxins have been reported to compensate for the disadvantages of conventional analysis from different research fields, including electrochemistry, nanotechnology, and molecular biology. Among them, we focused on the recent studies of transcription factor (TF)-based biosensors to detect microorganisms and discuss their perspectives and applications. Additionally, the other biosensors for detecting microorganisms reported in recent studies were also introduced in this review.
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13
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Trivedi VD, Mohan K, Chappell TC, Mays ZJS, Nair NU. Cheating the Cheater: Suppressing False-Positive Enrichment during Biosensor-Guided Biocatalyst Engineering. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:420-429. [PMID: 34914365 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00506] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Transcription factor (TF)-based biosensors are very desirable reagents for high-throughput enzyme and strain engineering campaigns. Despite their potential, they are often difficult to deploy effectively as the small molecules being detected can leak out of high-producer cells, into low-producer cells, and activate the biosensor therein. This crosstalk leads to the overrepresentation of false-positive/cheater cells in the enriched population. While the host cell can be engineered to minimize crosstalk (e.g., by deleting responsible transporters), this is not easily applicable to all molecules of interest, particularly those that can diffuse passively. One such biosensor recently reported for trans-cinnamic acid (tCA) suffers from crosstalk when used for phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) enzyme engineering by directed evolution. We report that desensitizing the biosensor (i.e., increasing the limit of detection) suppresses cheater population enrichment. Furthermore, we show that, if we couple the biosensor-based screen with an orthogonal prescreen that eliminates a large fraction of true negatives, we can successfully reduce the cheater population during the fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Using the approach developed here, we were successfully able to isolate PAL variants with ∼70% higher kcat after a single sort. These mutants have tremendous potential in phenylketonuria (PKU) treatment and flavonoid production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vikas D. Trivedi
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Karishma Mohan
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Todd C. Chappell
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Zachary J. S. Mays
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
| | - Nikhil U. Nair
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States
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14
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Kaczmarek JA, Prather KLJ. Effective use of biosensors for high-throughput library screening for metabolite production. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 48:6339276. [PMID: 34347108 PMCID: PMC8788864 DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuab049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
The development of fast and affordable microbial production from recombinant pathways is a challenging endeavor, with targeted improvements difficult to predict due to the complex nature of living systems. To address the limitations in biosynthetic pathways, much work has been done to generate large libraries of various genetic parts (promoters, RBSs, enzymes, etc.) to discover library members that bring about significantly improved levels of metabolite production. To evaluate these large libraries, high throughput approaches are necessary, such as those that rely on biosensors. There are various modes of operation to apply biosensors to library screens that are available at different scales of throughput. The effectiveness of each biosensor-based method is dependent on the pathway or strain to which it is applied, and all approaches have strengths and weaknesses to be carefully considered for any high throughput library screen. In this review, we discuss the various approaches used in biosensor screening for improved metabolite production, focusing on transcription factor-based biosensors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer A Kaczmarek
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02142, USA
| | - Kristala L J Prather
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02142, USA
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15
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Rabiee N, Rabiee M, Sojdeh S, Fatahi Y, Dinarvand R, Safarkhani M, Ahmadi S, Daneshgar H, Radmanesh F, Maghsoudi S, Bagherzadeh M, Varma RS, Mostafavi E. Porphyrin Molecules Decorated on Metal-Organic Frameworks for Multi-Functional Biomedical Applications. Biomolecules 2021; 11:1714. [PMID: 34827712 PMCID: PMC8615380 DOI: 10.3390/biom11111714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2021] [Revised: 11/09/2021] [Accepted: 11/15/2021] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely used as porous nanomaterials for different applications ranging from industrial to biomedicals. An unpredictable one-pot method is introduced to synthesize NH2-MIL-53 assisted by high-gravity in a greener media for the first time. Then, porphyrins were deployed to adorn the surface of MOF to increase the sensitivity of the prepared nanocomposite to the genetic materials and in-situ cellular protein structures. The hydrogen bond formation between genetic domains and the porphyrin' nitrogen as well as the surface hydroxyl groups is equally probable and could be considered a milestone in chemical physics and physical chemistry for biomedical applications. In this context, the role of incorporating different forms of porphyrins, their relationship with the final surface morphology, and their drug/gene loading efficiency were investigated to provide a predictable pattern in regard to the previous works. The conceptual phenomenon was optimized to increase the interactions between the biomolecules and the substrate by reaching the limit of detection to 10 pM for the Anti-cas9 protein, 20 pM for the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA), below 10 pM for the single guide RNA (sgRNA) and also around 10 nM for recombinant SARS-CoV-2 spike antigen. Also, the MTT assay showed acceptable relative cell viability of more than 85% in most cases, even by increasing the dose of the prepared nanostructures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Navid Rabiee
- Department of Physics, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11155-9161, Iran
- School of Engineering, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia
| | - Mohammad Rabiee
- Biomaterial Group, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran 15875-4413, Iran;
| | - Soheil Sojdeh
- School of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran 14155-6455, Iran;
| | - Yousef Fatahi
- Department of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6451, Iran; (Y.F.); (R.D.)
- Nanotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6451, Iran
| | - Rassoul Dinarvand
- Department of Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6451, Iran; (Y.F.); (R.D.)
- Nanotechnology Research Center, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14155-6451, Iran
| | - Moein Safarkhani
- Department of Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11155-3516, Iran; (M.S.); (H.D.); (M.B.)
| | - Sepideh Ahmadi
- Student Research Committee, Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 19857-17443, Iran;
- Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 19857-17443, Iran
| | - Hossein Daneshgar
- Department of Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11155-3516, Iran; (M.S.); (H.D.); (M.B.)
| | - Fatemeh Radmanesh
- Uro-Oncology Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran 14197-33141, Iran;
| | - Saeid Maghsoudi
- Faculty of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R2H 0G1, Canada;
| | - Mojtaba Bagherzadeh
- Department of Chemistry, Sharif University of Technology, Tehran 11155-3516, Iran; (M.S.); (H.D.); (M.B.)
| | - Rajender S. Varma
- Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute, Palacky University, Šlechtitelů 27, 783 71 Olomouc, Czech Republic
| | - Ebrahim Mostafavi
- Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
- Department of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
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16
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Kardashliev T, Weingartner A, Romero E, Schwaneberg U, Fraaije M, Panke S, Held M. Whole-cell screening of oxidative enzymes using genetically encoded sensors. Chem Sci 2021; 12:14766-14772. [PMID: 34820092 PMCID: PMC8597865 DOI: 10.1039/d1sc02578c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Biocatalysis is increasingly used for synthetic purposes in the chemical and especially the pharmaceutical industry. Enzyme discovery and optimization which is frequently needed to improve biocatalytic performance rely on high-throughput methods for activity determination. These methods should ideally be generic and applicable to entire enzyme families. Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a product of several biocatalytic oxidations and its formation can serve as a proxy for oxidative activity. We designed a genetically encoded sensor for activity measurement of oxidative biocatalysts via the amount of intracellularly-formed H2O2. A key component of the sensor is an H2O2-sensitive transcriptional regulator, OxyR, which is used to control the expression levels of fluorescent proteins. We employed the OxyR sensor to monitor the oxidation of glycerol to glyceraldehyde and of toluene to o-cresol catalysed by recombinant E. coli expressing an alcohol oxidase and a P450 monooxygenase, respectively. In case of the P450 BM3-catalysed reaction, we additionally monitored o-cresol formation via a second genetically encoded sensor based on the phenol-sensitive transcriptional activator, DmpR, and an orthogonal fluorescent reporter protein. Single round screens of mutant libraries by flow cytometry or by visual inspection of colonies on agar plates yielded significantly improved oxidase and oxygenase variants thus exemplifying the suitability of the sensor system to accurately assess whole-cell oxidations in a high-throughput manner.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tsvetan Kardashliev
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26 4058 Basel Switzerland
| | - Alexandra Weingartner
- Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University Worringerweg 3 52074 Aachen Germany
| | - Elvira Romero
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen Nijenborgh 4 9747 AG Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Ulrich Schwaneberg
- Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University Worringerweg 3 52074 Aachen Germany
| | - Marco Fraaije
- Faculty of Science and Engineering, University of Groningen Nijenborgh 4 9747 AG Groningen The Netherlands
| | - Sven Panke
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26 4058 Basel Switzerland
| | - Martin Held
- Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering ETH Zurich, Mattenstrasse 26 4058 Basel Switzerland
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17
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Jensen ED, Ambri F, Bendtsen MB, Javanpour AA, Liu CC, Jensen MK, Keasling JD. Integrating continuous hypermutation with high-throughput screening for optimization of cis,cis-muconic acid production in yeast. Microb Biotechnol 2021; 14:2617-2626. [PMID: 33645919 PMCID: PMC8601171 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.13774] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2020] [Revised: 01/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Directed evolution is a powerful method to optimize proteins and metabolic reactions towards user-defined goals. It usually involves subjecting genes or pathways to iterative rounds of mutagenesis, selection and amplification. While powerful, systematic searches through large sequence-spaces is a labour-intensive task, and can be further limited by a priori knowledge about the optimal initial search space, and/or limits in terms of screening throughput. Here, we demonstrate an integrated directed evolution workflow for metabolic pathway enzymes that continuously generate enzyme variants using the recently developed orthogonal replication system, OrthoRep and screens for optimal performance in high-throughput using a transcription factor-based biosensor. We demonstrate the strengths of this workflow by evolving a rate-limiting enzymatic reaction of the biosynthetic pathway for cis,cis-muconic acid (CCM), a precursor used for bioplastic and coatings, in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After two weeks of simply iterating between passaging of cells to generate variant enzymes via OrthoRep and high-throughput sorting of best-performing variants using a transcription factor-based biosensor for CCM, we ultimately identified variant enzymes improving CCM titers > 13-fold compared with reference enzymes. Taken together, the combination of synthetic biology tools as adopted in this study is an efficient approach to debottleneck repetitive workflows associated with directed evolution of metabolic enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emil D. Jensen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityTechnical University of DenmarkKgs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Francesca Ambri
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityTechnical University of DenmarkKgs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Marie B. Bendtsen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityTechnical University of DenmarkKgs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Alex A. Javanpour
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of California, IrvineIrvineCA92697USA
| | - Chang C. Liu
- Department of Biomedical EngineeringUniversity of California, IrvineIrvineCA92697USA
- Department of ChemistryUniversity of California, IrvineIrvineCA92697USA
- Department of Molecular Biology and BiochemistryUniversity of California, IrvineIrvineCA92697USA
| | - Michael K. Jensen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityTechnical University of DenmarkKgs. LyngbyDenmark
| | - Jay D. Keasling
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for BiosustainabilityTechnical University of DenmarkKgs. LyngbyDenmark
- Joint BioEnergy InstituteEmeryvilleCAUSA
- Biological Systems and Engineering DivisionLawrence Berkeley National LaboratoryBerkeleyCAUSA
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringDepartment of BioengineeringUniversity of CaliforniaBerkeleyCAUSA
- Center for Synthetic BiochemistryInstitute for Synthetic BiologyShenzhen Institutes of Advanced TechnologiesShenzhenChina
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18
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Adolfsen KJ, Callihan I, Monahan CE, Greisen PJ, Spoonamore J, Momin M, Fitch LE, Castillo MJ, Weng L, Renaud L, Weile CJ, Konieczka JH, Mirabella T, Abin-Fuentes A, Lawrence AG, Isabella VM. Improvement of a synthetic live bacterial therapeutic for phenylketonuria with biosensor-enabled enzyme engineering. Nat Commun 2021; 12:6215. [PMID: 34711827 PMCID: PMC8553829 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26524-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 10/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
In phenylketonuria (PKU) patients, a genetic defect in the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) leads to elevated systemic phenylalanine (Phe), which can result in severe neurological impairment. As a treatment for PKU, Escherichia coli Nissle (EcN) strain SYNB1618 was developed under Synlogic's Synthetic Biotic™ platform to degrade Phe from within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. This clinical-stage engineered strain expresses the Phe-metabolizing enzyme phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), catalyzing the deamination of Phe to the non-toxic product trans-cinnamate (TCA). In the present work, we generate a more potent EcN-based PKU strain through optimization of whole cell PAL activity, using biosensor-based high-throughput screening of mutant PAL libraries. A lead enzyme candidate from this screen is used in the construction of SYNB1934, a chromosomally integrated strain containing the additional Phe-metabolizing and biosafety features found in SYNB1618. Head-to-head, SYNB1934 demonstrates an approximate two-fold increase in in vivo PAL activity compared to SYNB1618.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kristin J Adolfsen
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | - Isolde Callihan
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | | | - Per Jr Greisen
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
- Novo Nordisk Research Center Seattle Inc, 530 Fairview Ave N, Seattle, WA, 98109, USA
| | - James Spoonamore
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | - Munira Momin
- Synlogic Inc, 301 Binney St, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Lauren E Fitch
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | | | - Lindong Weng
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
- Sana Biotechnology, 1 Tower Place Suite 500, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Lauren Renaud
- Synlogic Inc, 301 Binney St, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA
| | - Carl J Weile
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | - Jay H Konieczka
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
| | | | | | - Adam G Lawrence
- Zymergen Inc. (formerly enEvolv Inc.), 100 Acorn Park Drive, Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA
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19
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Flachbart LK, Gertzen CGW, Gohlke H, Marienhagen J. Development of a Biosensor Platform for Phenolic Compounds Using a Transition Ligand Strategy. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:2002-2014. [PMID: 34369151 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
The time-consuming and laborious characterization of protein or microbial strain designs limits the development of high-performance biocatalysts for biotechnological applications. Here, transcriptional biosensors emerged as valuable tools as they allow for rapid characterization of several thousand variants within a very short time. However, for many molecules of interest, no specific transcriptional regulator determining a biosensor's specificity is available. We present an approach for rapidly engineering biosensor specificities using a semirational transition ligand approach combined with fluorescence-activated cell sorting. In this two-step approach, a biosensor is first evolved toward a more relaxed-ligand specificity before using the resulting variant as the starting point in a second round of directed evolution toward high specificity for several chemically different ligands. By following this strategy, highly specific biosensors for 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, p-coumaric acid, 5-bromoferulic acid, and 6-methyl salicylic acid were developed, starting from a biosensor for the intracellular detection of trans-cinnamic acid.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lion Konstantin Flachbart
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Christoph Gerhard Wilhelm Gertzen
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
- John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
- Center for Structural Studies (CSS), Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
| | - Holger Gohlke
- Institute for Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Universitätsstr. 1, D-40225 Düsseldorf, Germany
- John von Neumann Institute for Computing (NIC), Jülich Supercomputing Centre (JSC) and Institute of Biological Information Processing (IBI-7: Structural Biochemistry), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
| | - Jan Marienhagen
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, D-52425 Jülich, Germany
- Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, D-52074 Aachen, Germany
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20
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Garagounis C, Delkis N, Papadopoulou KK. Unraveling the roles of plant specialized metabolites: using synthetic biology to design molecular biosensors. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2021; 231:1338-1352. [PMID: 33997999 DOI: 10.1111/nph.17470] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2021] [Accepted: 04/16/2021] [Indexed: 05/25/2023]
Abstract
Plants are a rich source of specialized metabolites with a broad range of bioactivities and many applications in human daily life. Over the past decades significant progress has been made in identifying many such metabolites in different plant species and in elucidating their biosynthetic pathways. However, the biological roles of plant specialized metabolites remain elusive and proposed functions lack an identified underlying molecular mechanism. Understanding the roles of specialized metabolites frequently is hampered by their dynamic production and their specific spatiotemporal accumulation within plant tissues and organs throughout a plant's life cycle. In this review, we propose the employment of strategies from the field of Synthetic Biology to construct and optimize genetically encoded biosensors that can detect individual specialized metabolites in a standardized and high-throughput manner. This will help determine the precise localization of specialized metabolites at the tissue and single-cell levels. Such information will be useful in developing complete system-level models of specialized plant metabolism, which ultimately will demonstrate how the biosynthesis of specialized metabolites is integrated with the core processes of plant growth and development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Constantine Garagounis
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Plant and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, University of Thessaly, Larissa, 41500, Greece
| | - Nikolaos Delkis
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Plant and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, University of Thessaly, Larissa, 41500, Greece
| | - Kalliope K Papadopoulou
- Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Plant and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory, University of Thessaly, Larissa, 41500, Greece
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21
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Yi D, Bayer T, Badenhorst CPS, Wu S, Doerr M, Höhne M, Bornscheuer UT. Recent trends in biocatalysis. Chem Soc Rev 2021; 50:8003-8049. [PMID: 34142684 PMCID: PMC8288269 DOI: 10.1039/d0cs01575j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 115] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Biocatalysis has undergone revolutionary progress in the past century. Benefited by the integration of multidisciplinary technologies, natural enzymatic reactions are constantly being explored. Protein engineering gives birth to robust biocatalysts that are widely used in industrial production. These research achievements have gradually constructed a network containing natural enzymatic synthesis pathways and artificially designed enzymatic cascades. Nowadays, the development of artificial intelligence, automation, and ultra-high-throughput technology provides infinite possibilities for the discovery of novel enzymes, enzymatic mechanisms and enzymatic cascades, and gradually complements the lack of remaining key steps in the pathway design of enzymatic total synthesis. Therefore, the research of biocatalysis is gradually moving towards the era of novel technology integration, intelligent manufacturing and enzymatic total synthesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dong Yi
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Thomas Bayer
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Christoffel P. S. Badenhorst
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Shuke Wu
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Mark Doerr
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Matthias Höhne
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
| | - Uwe T. Bornscheuer
- Department of Biotechnology & Enzyme Catalysis, Institute of Biochemistry, University GreifswaldFelix-Hausdorff-Str. 4D-17487 GreifswaldGermany
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22
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Transcription factor-based biosensors: a molecular-guided approach for natural product engineering. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2021; 69:172-181. [PMID: 33493842 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2021.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2020] [Revised: 12/21/2020] [Accepted: 01/10/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Natural products and their derivatives offer a rich source of chemical and biological diversity; however, traditional engineering of their biosynthetic pathways to improve yields and access to unnatural derivatives requires a precise understanding of their enzymatic processes. High-throughput screening platforms based on allosteric transcription-factor based biosensors can be leveraged to overcome the screening bottleneck to enable searching through large libraries of pathway/strain variants. Herein, the development and application of engineered allosteric transcription factor-based biosensors is described that enable optimization of precursor availability, product titers, and downstream product tailoring for advancing the natural product bioeconomy. We discuss recent successes for tailoring biosensor design, including computationally-based approaches, and present our future outlook with the integration of cell-free technologies and de novo protein design for rapidly generating biosensor tools.
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Hansen ASL, Dunham MJ, Arsovska D, Zhang J, Keasling JD, Herrgard MJ, Jensen MK. Dietary Change Enables Robust Growth-Coupling of Heterologous Methyltransferase Activity in Yeast. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:3408-3415. [PMID: 33179905 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022]
Abstract
Genetic modifications of living organisms and proteins are made possible by a catalogue of molecular and synthetic biology tools, yet proper screening assays for genetic variants of interest continue to lag behind. Synthetic growth-coupling (GC) of enzyme activities offers a simple, inexpensive way to track such improvements. In this follow-up study we present the optimization of a recently established GC design for screening of heterologous methyltransferases (MTases) and related pathways in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Specifically, upon testing different media compositions and genetic backgrounds, improved GC of different heterologous MTase activities is obtained. Furthermore, we demonstrate the strength of the system by screening a library of catechol O-MTase variants converting protocatechuic acid into vanillic acid. We demonstrated high correlation (R2 = 0.775) between vanillic acid and cell density as a proxy for MTase activity. We envision that the improved MTase GC can aid evolution-guided optimization of biobased production processes for methylated compounds with yeast in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Sofie Lærke Hansen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Maitreya J. Dunham
- Department of Genome Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195, United States
| | - Dushica Arsovska
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Jie Zhang
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Jay D. Keasling
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
- Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, California 94608, United States
- Biological Systems and Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720, United States
- Center for Synthetic Biochemistry, Institute for Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technologies, Shenzhen 518055, China
| | - Markus J. Herrgard
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
- BioInnovation Institute, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Michael K. Jensen
- Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
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24
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Tang RQ, Wagner JM, Alper HS, Zhao XQ, Bai FW. Design, Evolution, and Characterization of a Xylose Biosensor in Escherichia coli Using the XylR/ xylO System with an Expanded Operating Range. ACS Synth Biol 2020; 9:2714-2722. [PMID: 32886884 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00225] [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] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Genetically encoded biosensors are extensively utilized in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. However, reported xylose biosensors are far too sensitive with a limited operating range to be useful for most sensing applications. In this study, we describe directed evolution of Escherichia coli XylR, and construction of biosensors based on XylR and the corresponding operator xylO. The operating range of biosensors containing the mutant XylR was increased by nearly 10-fold comparing with the control. Two individual amino acid mutations (either L73P or N220T) in XylR were sufficient to extend the linear response range to upward of 10 g/L xylose. The evolved biosensors described here are well suited for developing whole-cell biosensors for detecting varying xylose concentrations across an expanded range. As an alternative use of this system, we also demonstrate the utility of XylR and xylO as a xylose inducible system to enable graded gene expression through testing with β-galactosidase gene and the lycopene synthetic pathway. This evolution strategy identified a less-sensitive biosensor for real applications, thus providing new insights into strategies for expanding operating ranges of other biosensors for synthetic biology applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rui-Qi Tang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - James M. Wagner
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Hal S. Alper
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712, United States
| | - Xin-Qing Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Feng-Wu Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Metabolism, Joint International Research Laboratory of Metabolic & Developmental Sciences, School of Life Sciences and Biotechnology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
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25
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Engineering and application of a biosensor with focused ligand specificity. Nat Commun 2020; 11:4851. [PMID: 32978386 PMCID: PMC7519686 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18400-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/12/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2020] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Cell factories converting bio-based precursors to chemicals present an attractive avenue to a sustainable economy, yet screening of genetically diverse strain libraries to identify the best-performing whole-cell biocatalysts is a low-throughput endeavor. For this reason, transcriptional biosensors attract attention as they allow the screening of vast libraries when used in combination with fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS). However, broad ligand specificity of transcriptional regulators (TRs) often prohibits the development of such ultra-high-throughput screens. Here, we solve the structure of the TR LysG of Corynebacterium glutamicum, which detects all three basic amino acids. Based on this information, we follow a semi-rational engineering approach using a FACS-based screening/counterscreening strategy to generate an l-lysine insensitive LysG-based biosensor. This biosensor can be used to isolate l-histidine-producing strains by FACS, showing that TR engineering towards a more focused ligand spectrum can expand the scope of application of such metabolite sensors. Transcriptional biosensors represent powerful tools for the screening of vast strain libraries, but the broad ligand specificity of some transcriptional regulators (TRs) can prohibit such applications. Here authors present the engineering of a LysG-based biosensor with a focused ligand specificity to isolate L-histidine-producing strains.
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26
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Regulatory control circuits for stabilizing long-term anabolic product formation in yeast. Metab Eng 2020; 61:369-380. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.07.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/25/2020] [Revised: 07/02/2020] [Accepted: 07/14/2020] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
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27
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Han Y, Zhang F. Control strategies to manage trade-offs during microbial production. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2020; 66:158-164. [PMID: 32810759 PMCID: PMC8021483 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.07.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/21/2020] [Revised: 07/04/2020] [Accepted: 07/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
When engineering microbes to overproduce a target molecule, engineers face multiple layers of trade-offs to allocate limited cellular resources between the target pathway and native cellular systems. These trade-offs arise from limited free ribosomes during translation, competition for metabolic precursors, as well as the negative relationship between production and growth rate. To achieve high production performance, microbes need to spontaneously make decisions in the dynamic and heterogeneous fermentation environment. In this review, we discuss recent advances in microbial control strategies that are used to manage these trade-offs and to improve microbial production. This review focuses on design principles and compares different implementations, with the hope to provide guidelines to future microbial engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yichao Han
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA
| | - Fuzhong Zhang
- Department of Energy, Environmental and Chemical Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; Division of Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA; Institute of Materials Science & Engineering, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA.
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28
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High-throughput screening for efficient microbial biotechnology. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2020; 64:141-150. [DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2020.02.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2020] [Revised: 02/21/2020] [Accepted: 02/27/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
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29
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Mays ZJ, Mohan K, Trivedi VD, Chappell TC, Nair NU. Directed evolution of Anabaena variabilis phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) identifies mutants with enhanced activities. Chem Commun (Camb) 2020; 56:5255-5258. [PMID: 32270162 PMCID: PMC7274816 DOI: 10.1039/d0cc00783h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
There is broad interest in engineering phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) for its biocatalytic applications in industry and medicine. While site-specific mutagenesis has been employed to improve PAL stability or substrate specificity, combinatorial techniques are poorly explored. Here, we report development of a directed evolution technique to engineer PAL enzymes. Central to this approach is a high-throughput enrichment that couples E. coli growth to PAL activity. Starting with the PAL used in the formulation of pegvaliase for PKU therapy, we report previously unidentified mutations that increase turnover frequency almost twofold after only a single round of engineering.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zachary Js Mays
- Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155, USA. twitter:@nair_lab
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30
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Milke L, Marienhagen J. Engineering intracellular malonyl-CoA availability in microbial hosts and its impact on polyketide and fatty acid synthesis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2020; 104:6057-6065. [PMID: 32385515 PMCID: PMC7316851 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-020-10643-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/19/2020] [Revised: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 04/21/2020] [Indexed: 12/20/2022]
Abstract
Malonyl-CoA is an important central metabolite serving as the basic building block for the microbial synthesis of many pharmaceutically interesting polyketides, but also fatty acid-derived compounds including biofuels. Especially Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Escherichia coli, and Corynebacterium glutamicum have been engineered towards microbial synthesis of such compounds in recent years. However, developed strains and processes often suffer from insufficient productivity. Usually, tightly regulated intracellular malonyl-CoA availability is regarded as the decisive bottleneck limiting overall product formation. Therefore, metabolic engineering towards improved malonyl-CoA availability is essential to design efficient microbial cell factories for the production of polyketides and fatty acid derivatives. This review article summarizes metabolic engineering strategies to improve intracellular malonyl-CoA formation in industrially relevant microorganisms and its impact on productivity and product range, with a focus on polyketides and other malonyl-CoA-dependent products.Key Points• Malonyl-CoA is the central building block of polyketide synthesis.• Increasing acetyl-CoA supply is pivotal to improve malonyl-CoA availability.• Improved acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity increases availability of malonyl-CoA.• Fatty acid synthesis as an ambivalent target to improve malonyl-CoA supply.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lars Milke
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany
| | - Jan Marienhagen
- Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany. .,Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Worringer Weg 3, 52074, Aachen, Germany. .,Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, 52425, Jülich, Germany.
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31
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Genetic Biosensor Design for Natural Product Biosynthesis in Microorganisms. Trends Biotechnol 2020; 38:797-810. [PMID: 32359951 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2020.03.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 64] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2019] [Revised: 03/26/2020] [Accepted: 03/26/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Low yield and low titer of natural products are common issues in natural product biosynthesis through microbial cell factories. One effective way to resolve such bottlenecks is to design genetic biosensors to monitor and regulate the biosynthesis of target natural products. In this review, we evaluate the most recent advances in the design of genetic biosensors for natural product biosynthesis in microorganisms. In particular, we examine strategies for selection of genetic parts and construction principles for the design and evaluation of genetic biosensors. We also review the latest applications of transcription factor- and riboswitch-based genetic biosensors in natural product biosynthesis. Lastly, we discuss challenges and solutions in designing genetic biosensors for the biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms.
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32
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Li JW, Zhang XY, Wu H, Bai YP. Transcription Factor Engineering for High-Throughput Strain Evolution and Organic Acid Bioproduction: A Review. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2020; 8:98. [PMID: 32140463 PMCID: PMC7042172 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2020.00098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/30/2019] [Accepted: 02/03/2020] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Metabolic regulation of gene expression for the microbial production of fine chemicals, such as organic acids, is an important research topic in post-genomic metabolic engineering. In particular, the ability of transcription factors (TFs) to respond precisely in time and space to various small molecules, signals and stimuli from the internal and external environment is essential for metabolic pathway engineering and strain development. As a key component, TFs are used to construct many biosensors in vivo using synthetic biology methods, which can be used to monitor the concentration of intracellular metabolites in organic acid production that would otherwise remain “invisible” within the intracellular environment. TF-based biosensors also provide a high-throughput screening method for rapid strain evolution. Furthermore, TFs are important global regulators that control the expression levels of key enzymes in organic acid biosynthesis pathways, therefore determining the outcome of metabolic networks. Here we review recent advances in TF identification, engineering, and applications for metabolic engineering, with an emphasis on metabolite monitoring and high-throughput strain evolution for the organic acid bioproduction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia-Wei Li
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Xiao-Yan Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Hui Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
| | - Yun-Peng Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Bioreactor Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
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33
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D'Ambrosio V, Pramanik S, Goroncy K, Jakočiūnas T, Schönauer D, Davari MD, Schwaneberg U, Keasling JD, Jensen MK. Directed evolution of VanR biosensor specificity in yeast. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotno.2020.01.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
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