Overexpression of two stress-responsive, small, non-coding RNAs, 6S and tmRNA, imparts butanol tolerance in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Intron RPS25Ai, a Novel DNA Element, Has Global Effects on Synthetic Pathway Engineering by Empowering Protein Synthesis

Classical genetic components in synthetic biology encompass essential elements of promoters, transcription factors, protein-coding genes, and terminators while both academic and industrial needs require novel engineering tools. Our study explores the potential of introns as versatile, novel biological DNA elements. Using intron RPS25Ai from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, the expression of mCherry was enhanced by 18.4-fold, demonstrating spatiotemporal regulatory patterns at both transcriptional and translational levels. A molecular mechanism study shows that this distinctive fine-tuning control relies on correct splicing events and extends to post-transcriptional processes. Intron RPS25Ai was applied to a heterologous metabolic pathway in engineered yeast, increasing β-carotene production by 4.29-fold. RPS25Ai functioned as a multilevel regulatory genetic element, enabling the increase in the expression of crtYB both at the pre-mRNA (99%) and mature RNA level (64%), with a splicing efficiency of 82%. Furthermore, the intron-engineered strain achieved a genome-scale regulation, upregulating 67% of "intron-containing" genes, with an average expression increase of 27%, compared with the upregulation of only 37% of "no-intron" genes. In addition, RPS25Ai induced a comprehensive rearrangement of ribosomal components, with the expression of 89% of ribosomal genes being upregulated, further empowering protein synthesis in the β-carotene-producing yeast cell factory.

The potential of native and engineered Clostridia for biomass biorefining

Since their first industrial application in the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation in the early 1900s, Clostridia have found large application in biomass biorefining. Overall, their fermentation products include organic acids (e.g., acetate, butyrate, lactate), short chain alcohols (e.g., ethanol, n-butanol, isobutanol), diols (e.g., 1,2-propanediol, 1,3-propanediol) and H2 which have several applications such as fuels, building block chemicals, solvents, food and cosmetic additives. Advantageously, several clostridial strains are able to use cheap feedstocks such as lignocellulosic biomass, food waste, glycerol or C1-gases (CO2, CO) which confer them additional potential as key players for the development of processes less dependent from fossil fuels and with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The present review aims to provide a survey of research progress aimed at developing Clostridium-mediated biomass fermentation processes, especially as regards strain improvement by metabolic engineering.

Current progress on engineering microbial strains and consortia for production of cellulosic butanol through consolidated bioprocessing

In the last decades, fermentative production of n-butanol has regained substantial interest mainly owing to its use as drop-in-fuel. The use of lignocellulose as an alternative to traditional acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation feedstocks (starchy biomass and molasses) can significantly increase the economic competitiveness of biobutanol over production from non-renewable sources (petroleum). However, the low cost of lignocellulose is offset by its high recalcitrance to biodegradation which generally requires chemical-physical pre-treatment and multiple bioreactor-based processes. The development of consolidated processing (i.e., single-pot fermentation) can dramatically reduce lignocellulose fermentation costs and promote its industrial application. Here, strategies for developing microbial strains and consortia that feature both efficient (hemi)cellulose depolymerization and butanol production will be depicted, that is, rational metabolic engineering of native (hemi)cellulolytic or native butanol-producing or other suitable microorganisms; protoplast fusion of (hemi)cellulolytic and butanol-producing strains; and co-culture of (hemi)cellulolytic and butanol-producing microbes. Irrespective of the fermentation feedstock, biobutanol production is inherently limited by the severe toxicity of this solvent that challenges process economic viability. Hence, an overview of strategies for developing butanol hypertolerant strains will be provided.

Ms1 RNA Interacts With the RNA Polymerase Core in Streptomyces coelicolor and Was Identified in Majority of Actinobacteria Using a Linguistic Gene Synteny Search

Bacteria employ small non-coding RNAs (sRNAs) to regulate gene expression. Ms1 is an sRNA that binds to the RNA polymerase (RNAP) core and affects the intracellular level of this essential enzyme. Ms1 is structurally related to 6S RNA that binds to a different form of RNAP, the holoenzyme bearing the primary sigma factor. 6S RNAs are widespread in the bacterial kingdom except for the industrially and medicinally important Actinobacteria. While Ms1 RNA was identified in Mycobacterium, it is not clear whether Ms1 RNA is present also in other Actinobacteria species. Here, using a computational search based on secondary structure similarities combined with a linguistic gene synteny approach, we identified Ms1 RNA in Streptomyces. In S. coelicolor, Ms1 RNA overlaps with the previously annotated scr3559 sRNA with an unknown function. We experimentally confirmed that Ms1 RNA/scr3559 associates with the RNAP core without the primary sigma factor HrdB in vivo. Subsequently, we applied the computational approach to other Actinobacteria and identified Ms1 RNA candidates in 824 Actinobacteria species, revealing Ms1 RNA as a widespread class of RNAP binding sRNAs, and demonstrating the ability of our multifactorial computational approach to identify weakly conserved sRNAs in evolutionarily distant genomes.

Clostridium cellulovorans Proteomic Responses to Butanol Stress

Combination of butanol-hyperproducing and hypertolerant phenotypes is essential for developing microbial strains suitable for industrial production of bio-butanol, one of the most promising liquid biofuels. Clostridium cellulovorans is among the microbial strains with the highest potential for direct production of n-butanol from lignocellulosic wastes, a process that would significantly reduce the cost of bio-butanol. However, butanol exhibits higher toxicity compared to ethanol and C. cellulovorans tolerance to this solvent is low. In the present investigation, comparative gel-free proteomics was used to study the response of C. cellulovorans to butanol challenge and understand the tolerance mechanisms activated in this condition. Sequential Window Acquisition of all Theoretical fragment ion spectra Mass Spectrometry (SWATH-MS) analysis allowed identification and quantification of differentially expressed soluble proteins. The study data are available via ProteomeXchange with the identifier PXD024183. The most important response concerned modulation of protein biosynthesis, folding and degradation. Coherent with previous studies on other bacteria, several heat shock proteins (HSPs), involved in protein quality control, were up-regulated such as the chaperones GroES (Cpn10), Hsp90, and DnaJ. Globally, our data indicate that protein biosynthesis is reduced, likely not to overload HSPs. Several additional metabolic adaptations were triggered by butanol exposure such as the up-regulation of V- and F-type ATPases (involved in ATP synthesis/generation of proton motive force), enzymes involved in amino acid (e.g., arginine, lysine, methionine, and branched chain amino acids) biosynthesis and proteins involved in cell envelope re-arrangement (e.g., the products of Clocel_4136, Clocel_4137, Clocel_4144, Clocel_4162 and Clocel_4352, involved in the biosynthesis of saturated fatty acids) and a redistribution of carbon flux through fermentative pathways (acetate and formate yields were increased and decreased, respectively). Based on these experimental findings, several potential gene targets for metabolic engineering strategies aimed at improving butanol tolerance in C. cellulovorans are suggested. This includes overexpression of HSPs (e.g., GroES, Hsp90, DnaJ, ClpC), RNA chaperone Hfq, V- and F-type ATPases and a number of genes whose function in C. cellulovorans is currently unknown.

Functions of small RNAs in Lactobacillus casei-Pediococcus group of lactic acid bacteria using fragment analysis

Small RNAs (sRNA) are non-cording RNAs composed of 50∼400 nt responsible for coordinating the adaption of Escherichia coli and other bacteria to changing environmental conditions, including pH and temperature. However, the role of sRNAs in lactic acid bacteria (LAB) has not yet been clarified. In this study, we used the Lactobacillus casei-Pediococcus group to evaluate the function of sRNAs in LAB, using RNA sequencing in the exponential growth phase and stationary phase to map and analyze sRNA fragments, which were categorized as Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus paracasei. We evaluated the role of sRNAs in nutrient synthesis for cell growth in exponential growth phase and in protein and biofilm biosynthesis for cell body durability. During exponential growth, the sRNA fragments were found to be involved in the stress response in Pediococcus pentosaceus and in environmental adaption in Lactobacillus paracasei. The results suggest that the function of sRNA can be characterized from sRNA fragments using RNA sequencing during the exponential growth and stationary phases in Lactobacillus casei-Pediococcus group.

Phenotypic and Genomic Analysis of Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 Mutants With Increased Butanol Tolerance

N-Butanol, a valuable solvent and potential fuel extender, can be produced via acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation. One of the main drawbacks of ABE fermentation is the high toxicity of butanol to producing cells, leading to cell membrane disruption, low culture viability and, consequently, low produced concentrations of butanol. The goal of this study was to obtain mutant strains of Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 with improved butanol tolerance using random chemical mutagenesis, describe changes in their phenotypes compared to the wild-type strain and reveal changes in the genome that explain improved tolerance or other phenotypic changes. Nine mutant strains with stable improved features were obtained by three different approaches and, for two of them, ethidium bromide (EB), a known substrate of efflux pumps, was used for either selection or as a mutagenic agent. It is the first utilization of this approach for the development of butanol-tolerant mutants of solventogenic clostridia, for which generally there is a lack of knowledge about butanol efflux or efflux mechanisms and their regulation. Mutant strains exhibited increase in butanol tolerance from 36% up to 127% and the greatest improvement was achieved for the strains for which EB was used as a mutagenic agent. Additionally, increased tolerance to other substrates of efflux pumps, EB and ethanol, was observed in all mutants and higher antibiotic tolerance in some of the strains. The complete genomes of mutant strains were sequenced and revealed that improved butanol tolerance can be attributed to mutations in genes encoding typical stress responses (chemotaxis, autolysis or changes in cell membrane structure), but, also, to mutations in genes X276_07980 and X276_24400, encoding efflux pump regulators. The latter observation confirms the importance of efflux in butanol stress response of the strain and offers new targets for rational strain engineering.

The Small RNA sr8384 Is a Crucial Regulator of Cell Growth in Solventogenic Clostridia

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are crucial regulatory molecules in organisms and are well-known not only for their roles in the control of diverse crucial biological processes but also for their value in regulation rewiring. However, to date, in Gram-positive anaerobic solventogenic clostridia (a group of important industrial bacteria with exceptional substrate and product diversity), sRNAs remain minimally explored, and thus there is a lack of detailed understanding regarding these important molecules and their use as targets for genetic improvement. Here, we performed large-scale phenotypic screens of a transposon-mediated mutant library of Clostridium acetobutylicum, a typical solventogenic clostridial species, and discovered a novel sRNA (sr8384) that functions as a crucial regulator of cell growth. Comparative transcriptomic data combined with genetic and biochemical analyses revealed that sr8384 acts as a pleiotropic regulator and controls multiple targets that are associated with crucial biological processes through direct or indirect interactions. Notably, the in vivo expression level of sr8384 determined the cell growth rate, thereby affecting the solvent titer and productivity. These findings indicate the importance of the sr8384-mediated regulatory network in C. acetobutylicum Furthermore, a homolog of sr8384 was discovered and proven to be functional in another important Clostridium species, C. beijerinckii, suggesting the potential broad role of this sRNA in clostridia. Our work showcases a previously unknown potent and complex role of sRNAs in clostridia, providing new opportunities for understanding and engineering these anaerobes.IMPORTANCE The uses of sRNAs as new resources for functional studies and strain modifications are promising strategies in microorganisms. However, these crucial regulatory molecules have hardly been explored in industrially important solventogenic clostridia. Here, we identified sr8384 as a novel determinant sRNA controlling the cell growth of solventogenic Clostridium acetobutylicum Based on a detailed functional analysis, we further reveal the pleiotropic function of sr8384 and its multiple direct and indirect crucial targets, which represents a valuable source for understanding and optimizing this anaerobe. Of note, manipulation of this sRNA achieves improved cell growth and solvent synthesis. Our findings provide a new perspective for future studies on regulatory sRNAs in clostridia.

Role of efflux in enhancing butanol tolerance of bacteria

N-butanol, a valued solvent and potential fuel extender, could possibly be produced by fermentation using either native producers, i.e. solventogenic Clostridia, or engineered platform organisms such as Escherichia coli or Pseudomonas species, if the main process obstacle, a low final butanol concentration, could be overcome. A low final concentration of butanol is the result of its high toxicity to production cells. Nevertheless, bacteria have developed several mechanisms to cope with this toxicity and one of them is active butanol efflux. This review presents information about a few well characterized butanol efflux pumps from Gram-negative bacteria (P. putida and E. coli) and summarizes knowledge about putative butanol efflux systems in Gram-positive bacteria.

Synthetic Biology Tools for Genome and Transcriptome Engineering of Solventogenic Clostridium

Strains of Clostridium genus are used for production of various value-added products including fuels and chemicals. Development of any commercially viable production process requires a combination of both strain and fermentation process development strategies. The strain development in Clostridium sp. could be achieved by random mutagenesis, and targeted gene alteration methods. However, strain improvement in Clostridium sp. by targeted gene alteration method was challenging due to the lack of efficient tools for genome and transcriptome engineering in this organism. Recently, various synthetic biology tools have been developed to facilitate the strain engineering of solventogenic Clostridium. In this review, we consolidated the recent advancements in toolbox development for genome and transcriptome engineering in solventogenic Clostridium. Here we reviewed the genome-engineering tools employing mobile group II intron, pyrE alleles exchange, and CRISPR/Cas9 with their application for strain development of Clostridium sp. Next, transcriptome engineering tools such as untranslated region (UTR) engineering and synthetic sRNA techniques were also discussed in context of Clostridium strain engineering. Application of any of these discussed techniques will facilitate the metabolic engineering of clostridia for development of improved strains with respect to requisite functional attributes. This might lead to the development of an economically viable butanol production process with improved titer, yield and productivity.

Consolidated bioprocessing for butanol production of cellulolytic Clostridia: development and optimization

Butanol is an important bulk chemical, as well as a promising renewable gasoline substitute, that is commonly produced by solventogenic Clostridia. The main cost of cellulosic butanol fermentation is caused by cellulases that are required to saccharify lignocellulose, since solventogenic Clostridia cannot efficiently secrete cellulases. However, cellulolytic Clostridia can natively degrade lignocellulose and produce ethanol, acetate, butyrate and even butanol. Therefore, cellulolytic Clostridia offer an alternative to develop consolidated bioprocessing (CBP), which combines cellulase production, lignocellulose hydrolysis and co-fermentation of hexose/pentose into butanol in one step. This review focuses on CBP advances for butanol production of cellulolytic Clostridia and various synthetic biotechnologies that drive these advances. Moreover, the efforts to optimize the CBP-enabling cellulolytic Clostridia chassis are also discussed. These include the development of genetic tools, pentose metabolic engineering and the improvement of butanol tolerance. Designer cellulolytic Clostridia or consortium provide a promising approach and resource to accelerate future CBP for butanol production.

Applying a New REFINE Approach in Zymomonas mobilis Identifies Novel sRNAs That Confer Improved Stress Tolerance Phenotypes

As global controllers of gene expression, small RNAs represent powerful tools for engineering complex phenotypes. However, a general challenge prevents the more widespread use of sRNA engineering strategies: mechanistic analysis of these regulators in bacteria lags far behind their high-throughput search and discovery. This makes it difficult to understand how to efficiently identify useful sRNAs to engineer a phenotype of interest. To help address this, we developed a forward systems approach to identify naturally occurring sRNAs relevant to a desired phenotype: RNA-seq Examiner for Phenotype-Informed Network Engineering (REFINE). This pipeline uses existing RNA-seq datasets under different growth conditions. It filters the total transcriptome to locate and rank regulatory-RNA-containing regions that can influence a metabolic phenotype of interest, without the need for previous mechanistic characterization. Application of this approach led to the uncovering of six novel sRNAs related to ethanol tolerance in non-model ethanol-producing bacterium Zymomonas mobilis. Furthermore, upon overexpressing multiple sRNA candidates predicted by REFINE, we demonstrate improved ethanol tolerance reflected by up to an approximately twofold increase in relative growth rate compared to controls not expressing these sRNAs in 7% ethanol (v/v) RMG-supplemented media. In this way, the REFINE approach informs strain-engineering strategies that we expect are applicable for general strain engineering.

Reprogramming bacteria with RNA regulators

The revolution of genomics and growth of systems biology urged the creation of synthetic biology, an engineering discipline aiming at recreating and reprogramming cellular functions for industrial needs. There has been a huge effort in synthetic biology to develop versatile and programmable genetic regulators that would enable the precise control of gene expression. Synthetic RNA components have emerged as a solution, offering a diverse range of programmable functions, including signal sensing, gene regulation and the modulation of molecular interactions. Owing to their compactness, structure and way of action, several types of RNA devices that act on DNA, RNA and protein have been characterized and applied in synthetic biology. RNA-based approaches are more ‘economical' for the cell, since they are generally not translated. These RNA-based strategies act on a much shorter time scale than transcription-based ones and can be more efficient than protein-based mechanisms. In this review, we explore these RNA components as building blocks in the RNA synthetic biology field, first by explaining their natural mode of action and secondly discussing how these RNA components have been exploited to rewire bacterial regulatory circuitry.

Synthetic Biology of Small RNAs and Riboswitches

In bacteria and archaea, small RNAs (sRNAs) regulate complex networks through antisense interactions with target mRNAs in trans, and riboswitches regulate gene expression in cis based on the ability to bind small-molecule ligands. Although our understanding and characterization of these two important regulatory RNA classes is far from complete, these RNA-based mechanisms have proven useful for a wide variety of synthetic biology applications. Besides classic and contemporary applications in the realm of metabolic engineering and orthogonal gene control, this review also covers newer applications of regulatory RNAs as biosensors, logic gates, and tools to determine RNA-RNA interactions. A separate section focuses on critical insights gained and challenges posed by fundamental studies of sRNAs and riboswitches that should aid future development of synthetic regulatory RNAs.

Regulatory non-coding sRNAs in bacterial metabolic pathway engineering

Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are versatile and powerful controllers of gene expression that have been increasingly linked to cellular metabolism and phenotype. In bacteria, identified and characterized ncRNAs range from trans-acting, multi-target small non-coding RNAs to dynamic, cis-encoded regulatory untranslated regions and riboswitches. These native regulators have inspired the design and construction of many synthetic RNA devices. In this work, we review the design, characterization, and impact of ncRNAs in engineering both native and exogenous metabolic pathways in bacteria. We also consider the opportunities afforded by recent high-throughput approaches for characterizing sRNA regulators and their corresponding networks to showcase their potential applications and impact in engineering bacterial metabolism.

Small and Low but Potent: the Complex Regulatory Role of the Small RNA SolB in Solventogenesis in Clostridium acetobutylicum

The recently revived Clostridium acetobutylicum-based acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation is widely celebrated and studied for its impact on industrial biotechnology. C. acetobutylicum has been studied and engineered extensively, yet critical areas of the molecular basis for how solvent formation is regulated remain unresolved. The core solventogenic genes (adhE1/aad, ctfA, ctfB, and adc) are carried on the sol locus of the pSOL1 megaplasmid, whose loss leads to asporogenous, "degenerate" cells. The sol locus includes a noncoding small RNA (sRNA), SolB, whose role is presumed to be critical for solventogenesis but has eluded resolution. In the present study, SolB overexpression downregulated the sol-locus genes at the transcript level, resulting in attenuated protein expression and a solvent-deficient phenotype, thus suggesting that SolB affects expression of all sol-locus transcripts and seemingly validating its hypothesized role as a repressor. However, deletion of solB resulted in a total loss of acetone production and severe attenuation of butanol formation, with complex effects on sol-locus genes and proteins: it had a small impact on adc mRNA or its corresponding protein (acetoacetate decarboxylase) expression level, somewhat reduced adhE1 and ctfA-ctfB mRNA levels, and abolished the ctfA-ctfB-encoded coenzyme A transferase (CoAT) activity. Computational predictions support a model whereby SolB expressed at low levels enables the stabilization and translation of sol-locus transcripts to facilitate tuning of the production of various solvents depending on the prevailing culture conditions. A key predicted SolB target is the ribosome binding site (RBS) of the ctfA transcript, and this was verified by expressing variants of the ctfA-ctfB genes to demonstrate the importance of SolB for acetone formation.IMPORTANCE Small noncoding RNAs regulate many important metabolic and developmental programs in prokaryotes, but their role in anaerobes has been explored minimally. Regulation of solvent formation in the important industrial organism C. acetobutylicum remains incompletely understood. While the genes for solvent formation and their promoters are known, the means by which this organism tunes the ratios of key solvents, notably the butanol/acetone ratio to balance its electron resources, remains unknown. Significantly, the roles of several coding and noncoding genes in the sol locus in tuning the solvent formation ratios have not been explored. Here we show that the small RNA SolB fine-tunes the expression of solvents, with acetone formation being a key target, by regulating the translation of the acetone formation rate-limiting enzyme, the coenzyme A transferase (CoAT). It is notable that SolB expressed at very low levels enables CoAT translation, while at high, nonphysiological expression levels, it leads to degradation of the corresponding transcript.

6S RNA, a Global Regulator of Transcription

6S RNA is a small RNA regulator of RNA polymerase (RNAP) that is present broadly throughout the bacterial kingdom. Initial functional studies in Escherichia coli revealed that 6S RNA forms a complex with RNAP resulting in regulation of transcription, and cells lacking 6S RNA have altered survival phenotypes. The last decade has focused on deepening the understanding of several aspects of 6S RNA activity, including (i) addressing questions of how broadly conserved 6S RNAs are in diverse organisms through continued identification and initial characterization of divergent 6S RNAs; (ii) the nature of the 6S RNA-RNAP interaction through examination of variant proteins and mutant RNAs, cross-linking approaches, and ultimately a cryo-electron microscopic structure; (iii) the physiological consequences of 6S RNA function through identification of the 6S RNA regulon and promoter features that determine 6S RNA sensitivity; and (iv) the mechanism and cellular impact of 6S RNA-directed synthesis of product RNAs (i.e., pRNA synthesis). Much has been learned about this unusual RNA, its mechanism of action, and how it is regulated; yet much still remains to be investigated, especially regarding potential differences in behavior of 6S RNAs in diverse bacteria.

Flow cytometry analysis of Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 populations exhibiting different phenotypes induced by changes in cultivation conditions

BACKGROUND

Biobutanol production by clostridia via the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) pathway is a promising future technology in bioenergetics , but identifying key regulatory mechanisms for this pathway is essential in order to construct industrially relevant strains with high tolerance and productivity. We have applied flow cytometric analysis to C. beijerinckii NRRL B-598 and carried out comparative screening of physiological changes in terms of viability under different cultivation conditions to determine its dependence on particular stages of the life cycle and the concentration of butanol.

RESULTS

Dual staining by propidium iodide (PI) and carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA) provided separation of cells into four subpopulations with different abilities to take up PI and cleave CFDA, reflecting different physiological states. The development of a staining pattern during ABE fermentation showed an apparent decline in viability, starting at the pH shift and onset of solventogenesis, although an appreciable proportion of cells continued to proliferate. This was observed for sporulating as well as non-sporulating phenotypes at low solvent concentrations, suggesting that the increase in percentage of inactive cells was not a result of solvent toxicity or a transition from vegetative to sporulating stages. Additionally, the sporulating phenotype was challenged with butanol and cultivation with a lower starting pH was performed; in both these experiments similar trends were obtained-viability declined after the pH breakpoint, independent of the actual butanol concentration in the medium. Production characteristics of both sporulating and non-sporulating phenotypes were comparable, showing that in C. beijerinckii NRRL B-598, solventogenesis was not conditional on sporulation.

CONCLUSION

We have shown that the decline in C. beijerinckii NRRL B-598 culture viability during ABE fermentation was not only the result of accumulated toxic metabolites, but might also be associated with a special survival strategy triggered by pH change.

Fluorescence-Based Methods for Characterizing RNA Interactions In Vivo

Fluorescence-based tools that measure RNA-RNA and RNA-protein interactions in vivo offer useful experimental approaches to probe the complex and dynamic physiological behavior of bacterial RNAs. Here we document the step-by-step design and application of two fluorescence-based methods for studying the regulatory interactions RNAs perform in vivo: (i) the in vivo RNA Structural Sensing System (iRS³) for measuring RNA accessibility and (ii) the trifluorescence complementation (TriFC) assay for measuring RNA-protein interactions.

Enhancement of butanol production by sequential introduction of mutations conferring butanol tolerance and streptomycin resistance

Ribosome engineering, originally applied to Streptomyces lividans, has been widely utilized for strain improvement, especially for the activation of bacterial secondary metabolism. This study assessed ribosome engineering technology to modulate primary metabolism, taking butanol production as a representative example. The introduction into Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum of mutations conferring resistance to butanol (But^R) and of the str mutation (Sm^R; a mutation in the rpsL gene encoding ribosomal protein S12), conferring high-level resistance to streptomycin, increased butanol production 1.6-fold, to 16.5 g butanol/L. Real-time qPCR analysis demonstrated that the genes involved in butanol metabolism by C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum were activated at the transcriptional level in the drug-resistant mutants, providing a mechanism for the higher yields of butanol by the mutants. Moreover, the activity of enzymes butyraldehyde dehydrogenase (AdhE) and butanol dehydrogenases (BdhAB), the key enzymes involved in butanol synthesis, was both markedly increased in the But^R Sm^R mutant, reflecting the significant up-regulation of adhE and bdhA at transcriptional level in this mutant strain. These results demonstrate the efficacy of ribosome engineering for the production of not only secondary metabolites but of industrially important primary metabolites. The possible ways to overcome the reduced growth rate and/or fitness cost caused by the mutation were also discussed.

Industrial production of acetone and butanol by fermentation-100 years later

Microbial production of acetone and butanol was one of the first large-scale industrial fermentation processes of global importance. During the first part of the 20th century, it was indeed the second largest fermentation process, superseded in importance only by the ethanol fermentation. After a rapid decline after the 1950s, acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation has recently gained renewed interest in the context of biorefinery approaches for the production of fuels and chemicals from renewable resources. The availability of new methods and knowledge opens many new doors for industrial microbiology, and a comprehensive view on this process is worthwhile due to the new interest. This thematic issue of FEMS Microbiology Letters, dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the first industrial exploitation of Chaim Weizmann's ABE fermentation process, covers the main aspects of old and new developments, thereby outlining a model development in biotechnology. All major aspects of industrial microbiology are exemplified by this single process. This includes new technologies, such as the latest developments in metabolic engineering, the exploitation of biodiversity and discoveries of new regulatory systems such as for microbial stress tolerance, as well as technological aspects, such as bio- and down-stream processing.

Industrial production of acetone and butanol by fermentation—100 years later.