The transcriptional program underlying the physiology of clostridial sporulation

Effect of spo0A, sigE, sigG, and sigK disruption on butanol production and spore formation in Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4 (ATCC13564)

Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4 (ATCC13564) is a butanol-producing strain suitable for application to butanol production from cellulosic materials by co-culture with cellulolytic and thermophilic species, such as Hungateiclostridium thermocellum (synonym: Clostridium thermocellum). The optimal temperature for butanol production by strain N1-4 is 30 °C, and the strain is sensitive to a high culture temperature of 37 °C. Given that spore formation is observed at high frequency when strain N1-4 is cultivated at 37 °C, we assumed in a previous study that the initiation of sporulation is related to a decrease in butanol production. Therefore, to investigate the relationship between butanol production and spore formation, we generated strain N1-4 isolates in which genes related to spore formation were disrupted. The sporulation-related gene disruptants of spo0A, sigE, sigG, and sigK lost the ability to produce heat-resistant spores, irrespective of the culture temperature. Among the gene disruptants produced, only the spo0A disruptant lost butanol-producing ability when cultivated at 30 °C. Interestingly, the sigE disruptant maintained butanol productivity similar to that observed at 30 °C, even when cultivated at 37 °C. In addition, the sigE disruptant successfully produced butanol from Avicel cellulose by co-culture with H. thermocellum at a fermentation temperature of 37 °C.

Single and multiplexed gene repression in solventogenic Clostridium via Cas12a-based CRISPR interference

The Gram-positive, spore-forming, obligate anaerobic firmicute species that make up the Clostridium genus have broad feedstock consumption capabilities and produce value-added metabolic products, but genetic manipulation is difficult, limiting their broad appeal. CRISPR-Cas systems have recently been applied to Clostridium species, primarily using Cas9 as a counterselection marker in conjunction with plasmid-based homologous recombination. CRISPR interference is a method that reduces gene expression of specific genes via precision targeting of a nuclease deficient Cas effector protein. Here, we develop a dCas12a-based CRISPR interference system for transcriptional gene repression in multiple mesophilic Clostridium species. We show the Francisella novicida Cas12a-based system has a broader applicability due to the low GC content in Clostridium species compared to CRISPR Cas systems derived from other bacteria. We demonstrate >99% reduction in transcript levels of targeted genes in Clostridium acetobutylicum and >75% reduction in Clostridium pasteurianum. We also demonstrate multiplexed repression via use of a single synthetic CRISPR array, achieving 99% reduction in targeted gene expression and elucidating a unique metabolic profile for their reduced expression. Overall, this work builds a foundation for high throughput genetic screens without genetic editing, a key limitation in current screening methods used in the Clostridium community.

Production of propionate using metabolically engineered strains of Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum

Abstract

The carboxylic acid propionate is a valuable platform chemical with applications in various fields. The biological production of this acid has become of great interest as it can be considered a sustainable alternative to petrochemical synthesis. In this work, Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum was metabolically engineered to produce propionate via the acrylate pathway. In total, the established synthetic pathway comprised eight genes encoding the enzymes catalyzing the conversion of pyruvate to propionate. These included the propionate CoA-transferase, the lactoyl-CoA dehydratase, and the acryloyl-CoA reductase from Anaerotignum neopropionicum as well as a D-lactate dehydrogenase from Leuconostoc mesenteroides subsp. mesenteroides. Due to difficulties in assembling all genes on one plasmid under the control of standard promoters, the P_tcdB-tcdR promoter system from Clostridium difficile was integrated into a two-plasmid system carrying the acrylate pathway genes. Several promoters were analyzed for their activity in C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum using the fluorescence-activating and absorption-shifting tag (FAST) as a fluorescent reporter to identify suitable candidates to drive tcdR expression. After selecting the lactose-inducible P_bgaL promoter, engineered C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum strains produced 0.7 mM propionate upon induction of gene expression. The low productivity was suspected to be a consequence of a metabolic imbalance leading to acryloyl-CoA accumulation in the cells. To even out the proposed imbalance, the propionate-synthesis operons were rearranged, thereby increasing the propionate concentration by almost four-fold. This study is the first one to report recombinant propionate production using a clostridial host strain that has opened a new path towards bio-based propionate to be improved further in subsequent work.

Key points

• Determination of promoter activities in C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum using FAST.

• Implementation of propionate production in C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum.

• Elevation of propionate production by 375% to a concentration of 3 mM.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-022-12210-8.

Molecular characterization of the missing electron pathways for butanol synthesis in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Clostridium acetobutylicum is a promising biocatalyst for the renewable production of n-butanol. Several metabolic strategies have already been developed to increase butanol yields, most often based on carbon pathway redirection. However, it has previously demonstrated that the activities of both ferredoxin-NADP⁺ reductase and ferredoxin-NAD⁺ reductase, whose encoding genes remain unknown, are necessary to produce the NADPH and the extra NADH needed for butanol synthesis under solventogenic conditions. Here, we purify, identify and partially characterize the proteins responsible for both activities and demonstrate the involvement of the identified enzymes in butanol synthesis through a reverse genetic approach. We further demonstrate the yield of butanol formation is limited by the level of expression of CA_C0764, the ferredoxin-NADP⁺ reductase encoding gene and the bcd operon, encoding a ferredoxin-NAD⁺ reductase. The integration of these enzymes into metabolic engineering strategies introduces opportunities for developing a homobutanologenic C. acetobutylicum strain.

Ferredoxin-NAD(P) + oxidoreductases are important enzymes for redox balancing in n-butanol production by Clostridium acetobutylicum, but the encoding genes remain unknown. Here, the authors identify the long sought-after genes and increase n-butanol production by optimizing the levels of the two enzymes.

An updated review on advancement in fermentative production strategies for biobutanol using Clostridium spp

A significant concern of our fuel-dependent era is the unceasing exhaustion of petroleum fuel supplies. In parallel to this, environmental issues such as the greenhouse effect, change in global climate, and increasing global temperature must be addressed on a priority basis. Biobutanol, which has fuel characteristics comparable to gasoline, has attracted global attention as a viable green fuel alternative among the many biofuel alternatives. Renewable biomass could be used for the sustainable production of biobutanol by the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) pathway. Non-extinguishable resources, such as algal and lignocellulosic biomass, and starch are some of the most commonly used feedstock for fermentative production of biobutanol, and each has its particular set of advantages. Clostridium, a gram-positive endospore-forming bacterium that can produce a range of compounds, along with n-butanol is traditionally known for its biobutanol production capabilities. Clostridium fermentation produces biobased n-butanol through ABE fermentation. However, low butanol titer, a lack of suitable feedstock, and product inhibition are the primary difficulties in biobutanol synthesis. Critical issues that are essential for sustainable production of biobutanol include (i) developing high butanol titer producing strains utilizing genetic and metabolic engineering approaches, (ii) renewable biomass that could be used for biobutanol production at a larger scale, and (iii) addressing the limits of traditional batch fermentation by integrated bioprocessing technologies with effective product recovery procedures that have increased the efficiency of biobutanol synthesis. Our paper reviews the current progress in all three aspects of butanol production and presents recent data on current practices in fermentative biobutanol production technology.

Comparative Transcriptome Analysis of Shewanella putrefaciens WS13 Biofilms Under Cold Stress

Shewanella putrefaciens is a Gram-negative bacterium that can cause seafood spoilage under low-temperature conditions. The bacterium easily forms biofilms to enhance its survival in challenging environments. Our previous research revealed that the biofilm formed by S. putrefaciens WS13 under the low temperature (4 °C) has larger biomass and tighter structure than at an optimum growth temperature (30 °C). In this study, comparative transcriptome analysis was further performed to get insights into the global-level of gene expression in the biofilm formed by S. putrefaciens WS13 under the refrigerating and optimal temperatures using Illumina RNA-Sequencing technique. The results revealed that a total of 761 genes were differentially expressed, of which 497 were significantly up-regulated and 264 were significantly down-regulated (p<0.05). The qRT-PCR results of randomly selected differentially expressed genes (DEGs) confirmed the RNA sequencing results. Comparison of transcriptome data revealed 28 significantly changed metabolic pathways under the cold stress, including the down-regulated chemotaxis, and motility, and up-regulated tryptophan metabolism, histidine biosynthesis, and quorum sensing, which benefited the biofilm formation of S. putrefaciens WS13 under the adverse circumstance. This study provided useful data for better understanding of the biofilm formation of S. putrefaciens, and also laid a theoretical foundation for novel vaccine and drug targets against the severe spoilage bacterium under the cold stress.

Conservation and Evolution of the Sporulation Gene Set in Diverse Members of the Firmicutes

The current classification of the phylum Firmicutes (new name, Bacillota) features eight distinct classes, six of which include known spore-forming bacteria. In Bacillus subtilis, sporulation involves up to 500 genes, many of which do not have orthologs in other bacilli and/or clostridia. Previous studies identified about 60 sporulation genes of B. subtilis that were shared by all spore-forming members of the Firmicutes. These genes are referred to as the sporulation core or signature, although many of these are also found in genomes of nonsporeformers. Using an expanded set of 180 firmicute genomes from 160 genera, including 76 spore-forming species, we investigated the conservation of the sporulation genes, in particular seeking to identify lineages that lack some of the genes from the conserved sporulation core. The results of this analysis confirmed that many small acid-soluble spore proteins (SASPs), spore coat proteins, and germination proteins, which were previously characterized in bacilli, are missing in spore-forming members of Clostridia and other classes of Firmicutes. A particularly dramatic loss of sporulation genes was observed in the spore-forming members of the families Planococcaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae. Fifteen species from diverse lineages were found to carry skin (sigK-interrupting) elements of different sizes that all encoded SpoIVCA-like recombinases but did not share any other genes. Phylogenetic trees built from concatenated alignments of sporulation proteins and ribosomal proteins showed similar topology, indicating an early origin and subsequent vertical inheritance of the sporulation genes. IMPORTANCE Many members of the phylum Firmicutes (Bacillota) are capable of producing endospores, which enhance the survival of important Gram-positive pathogens that cause such diseases as anthrax, botulism, colitis, gas gangrene, and tetanus. We show that the core set of sporulation genes, defined previously through genome comparisons of several bacilli and clostridia, is conserved in a wide variety of sporeformers from several distinct lineages of Firmicutes. We also detected widespread loss of sporulation genes in many organisms, particularly within the families Planococcaceae and Erysipelotrichaceae. Members of these families, such as Lysinibacillus sphaericus and Clostridium innocuum, could be excellent model organisms for studying sporulation mechanisms, such as engulfment, formation of the spore coat, and spore germination.

Occurrence of genes encoding spore germination in Clostridium species that cause meat spoilage

Members of the genus Clostridium are frequently associated with meat spoilage. The ability for low numbers of spores of certain Clostridium species to germinate in cold-stored vacuum-packed meat can result in blown pack spoilage. However, little is known about the germination process of these clostridia, despite this characteristic being important for their ability to cause spoilage. This study sought to determine the genomic conditions for germination of 37 representative Clostridium strains from seven species (C. estertheticum, C. tagluense, C. frigoris, C. gasigenes, C. putrefaciens, C. aligidicarnis and C. frigdicarnis) by comparison with previously characterized germination genes from C. perfringens, C. sporogenes and C. botulinum. All the genomes analysed contained at least one gerX operon. Seven different gerX operon configuration types were identified across genomes from C. estertheticum, C. tagluense and C. gasigenes. Differences arose between the C. gasigenes genomes and those belonging to C. tagluense/C. estertheticum in the number and type of genes coding for cortex lytic enzymes, suggesting the germination pathway of C. gasigenes is different. However, the core components of the germination pathway were conserved in all the Clostridium genomes analysed, suggesting that these species undergo the same major steps as Bacillus subtilis for germination to occur.

Transcriptomic studies of solventogenic clostridia, Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium beijerinckii

Solventogenic clostridia are not a strictly defined group within the genus Clostridium but its representatives share some common features, i.e. they are anaerobic, non-pathogenic, non-toxinogenic and endospore forming bacteria. Their main metabolite is typically 1-butanol but depending on species and culture conditions, they can form other metabolites such as acetone, isopropanol, ethanol, butyric, lactic and acetic acids, and hydrogen. Although these organisms were previously used for the industrial production of solvents, they later fell into disuse, being replaced by more efficient chemical production. A return to a more biological production of solvents therefore requires a thorough understanding of clostridial metabolism. Transcriptome analysis, which reflects the involvement of individual genes in all cellular processes within a population, at any given (sampling) moment, is a valuable tool for gaining a deeper insight into clostridial life. In this review, we describe techniques to study transcription, summarize the evolution of these techniques and compare methods for data processing and visualization of solventogenic clostridia, particularly the species Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium beijerinckii. Individual approaches for evaluating transcriptomic data are compared and their contributions to advancements in the field are assessed. Moreover, utilization of transcriptomic data for reconstruction of computational clostridial metabolic models is considered and particular models are described. Transcriptional changes in glucose transport, central carbon metabolism, the sporulation cycle, butanol and butyrate stress responses, the influence of lignocellulose-derived inhibitors on growth and solvent production, and other respective topics, are addressed and common trends are highlighted.

Kinetic model of Clostridium beijerinckii's Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol fermentation considering metabolically diverse cell types

Clostridium beijerinckii population branches into metabolically diverse cell types in batch cultures. Here, we present a new kinetic model of C. beijerinckii's Acetone-Butanol-Ethanol fermentation that considers three cell types: producers of acids (acidogenic), consumer of acids and producers of solvents (solventogenic), and spores cells. The model accurately recapitulates batch culture data. Also, the model estimates cell type-specific kinetic parameters, which can be helpful to improve the operation of the ABE fermentation and give a framework to study acidogenic and solventogenic metabolic pathways. To exemplify the latter, we used a constraint-based model to study how the ABE pathways are used among acidogenic and solventogenic cell types. We found that among both cell types, glycolytic production of ATP and consumption of NAD⁺ varies widely during the fermentation, with their maximum production/consumption rates happening when acidogenic and solventogenic growth rates were at their highest. However, acidogenic cells use the ABE pathway to contribute with an extra 12.5% of the total production of ATP, whereas solventogenic cell types use the ABE pathway to supply more than 75% of the demand for NAD⁺, alternating between the production of lactate and butyrate, being both coupled to the production of NAD⁺.

Crystal Structure and Molecular Mechanism of Phosphotransbutyrylase from Clostridium acetobutylicum

Acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum has been considered a promising process of industrial biofuel production. Phosphotransbutyrylase (phosphate butyryltransferase, PTB) plays a crucial role in butyrate metabolism by catalyzing the reversible conversion of butyryl-CoA into butyryl phosphate. Here, we report the crystal structure of PTB from the Clostridial host for ABE fermentation, C. acetobutylicum, (CaPTB) at a 2.9 Å resolution. The overall structure of the CaPTB monomer is quite similar to those of other acyltransferases, with some regional structural differences. The monomeric structure of CaPTB consists of two distinct domains, the N- and C-terminal domains. The active site cleft was formed at the interface between the two domains. Interestingly, the crystal structure of CaPTB contained eight molecules per asymmetric unit, forming an octamer, and the size-exclusion chromatography experiment also suggested that the enzyme exists as an octamer in solution. The structural analysis of CaPTB identifies the substrate binding mode of the enzyme and comparisons with other acyltransferase structures lead us to speculate that the enzyme undergoes a conformational change upon binding of its substrate.

Enforcing ATP hydrolysis enhanced anaerobic glycolysis and promoted solvent production in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Background

The intracellular ATP level is an indicator of cellular energy state and plays a critical role in regulating cellular metabolism. Depletion of intracellular ATP in (facultative) aerobes can enhance glycolysis, thereby promoting end product formation. In the present study, we examined this s trategy in anaerobic ABE (acetone-butanol-ethanol) fermentation using Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 1731.

Results

Following overexpression of atpAGD encoding the subunits of water-soluble, ATP-hydrolyzing F₁-ATPase, the intracellular ATP level of 1731(pITF₁) was significantly reduced compared to control 1731(pIMP1) over the entire batch fermentation. The glucose uptake was markedly enhanced, achieving a 78.8% increase of volumetric glucose utilization rate during the first 18 h. In addition, an early onset of acid re-assimilation and solventogenesis in concomitant with the decreased intracellular ATP level was evident. Consequently, the total solvent production was significantly improved with remarkable increases in yield (14.5%), titer (9.9%) and productivity (5.3%). Further genome-scale metabolic modeling revealed that many metabolic fluxes in 1731(pITF₁) were significantly elevated compared to 1731(pIMP1) in acidogenic phase, including those from glycolysis, tricarboxylic cycle, and pyruvate metabolism; this indicates significant metabolic changes in response to intracellular ATP depletion.

Conclusions

In C. acetobutylicum DSM 1731, depletion of intracellular ATP significantly increased glycolytic rate, enhanced solvent production, and resulted in a wide range of metabolic changes. Our findings provide a novel strategy for engineering solvent-producing C. acetobutylicum, and many other anaerobic microbial cell factories.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01639-7.

High Performance of Biohydrogen Production in Packed-Filter Bioreactor via Optimizing Packed-Filter Position

In this present investigation, a packed-filter bioreactor was employed to produce hydrogen utilizing an expired soft drink as a substrate. The effects of feeding substrate concentrations ranging from 19.51, 10.19, 5.34, 3.48, to 2.51 g total sugar/L were examined, and the position of the packed filter installed in the bioreactor at dimensionless heights (h/H) of 1/4, 2/4, 3/4, and 4/4 was studied. The results revealed that with a substrate concentration of 20 g total sugar/L and a hydraulic retention time (HRT) of 1 h, a packed filter placed at the half-height position of the bioreactor (h/H 2/4) has the optimal hydrogen production rate, hydrogen yield, and average biomass concentration in the bioreactor, resulting in 55.70 ± 2.42 L/L/d, 0.90 ± 0.06 mol H₂/mol hexose, and 17.86 ± 1.09 g VSS/L. When feeding substrate concentrations varied from 20, 10, to 5 g total sugar/L with the packed-filter position at h/H 2/4, Clostridium sp., Clostridium tyrobutyricum, and Bifidobacterium crudilactis were the predominant bacteria community. Finally, it was discovered that the packed-filter bioreactor can produce stable hydrogen in high-strength organic effluent.

A high-efficient strategy for combinatorial engineering paralogous gene family: A case study on histidine kinases in Clostridium

Microorganisms harbor bulks of functionally similar or undefined genes, which belong to paralogous gene family. There is a necessity of exploring combinatorial or interactive functions of these genes, but conventional loss-of-function strategy with one-by-one rounds suffers extremely low efficiency for generating mutant libraries with all gene permutations. Here, taking histidine kinases (HKs) in Clostridium acetobutylicum as a proof-of-concept, we developed a multi-plasmid cotransformation strategy for generating all theoretical HKs combinations in one round. For five HKs with 31 theoretical combinations, the library containing 22 mutants within all the possible HKs-inactivated combinations was constructed with 11 days compared to 242 days by conventional strategy, while the other 9 combinations cannot survive. Six mutants with the enhanced butanol production and tolerance were obtained with changes of cell development during fermentation, one of which could produce 54.2% more butanol (56.4% more solvents), while the butanol production of other mutants was unchanged or decreased. The cotransformation strategy demonstrated potentials for fast exploring pleiotropic function of paralogous family genes in cell survival, cell development, and target product metabolism.

Sporulation in solventogenic and acetogenic clostridia

The Clostridium genus harbors compelling organisms for biotechnological production processes; while acetogenic clostridia can fix C1-compounds to produce acetate and ethanol, solventogenic clostridia can utilize a wide range of carbon sources to produce commercially valuable carboxylic acids, alcohols, and ketones by fermentation. Despite their potential, the conversion by these bacteria of carbohydrates or C1 compounds to alcohols is not cost-effective enough to result in economically viable processes. Engineering solventogenic clostridia by impairing sporulation is one of the investigated approaches to improve solvent productivity. Sporulation is a cell differentiation process triggered in bacteria in response to exposure to environmental stressors. The generated spores are metabolically inactive but resistant to harsh conditions (UV, chemicals, heat, oxygen). In Firmicutes, sporulation has been mainly studied in bacilli and pathogenic clostridia, and our knowledge of sporulation in solvent-producing or acetogenic clostridia is limited. Still, sporulation is an integral part of the cellular physiology of clostridia; thus, understanding the regulation of sporulation and its connection to solvent production may give clues to improve the performance of solventogenic clostridia. This review aims to provide an overview of the triggers, characteristics, and regulatory mechanism of sporulation in solventogenic clostridia. Those are further compared to the current knowledge on sporulation in the industrially relevant acetogenic clostridia. Finally, the potential applications of spores for process improvement are discussed.Key Points• The regulatory network governing sporulation initiation varies in solventogenic clostridia.• Media composition and cell density are the main triggers of sporulation.• Spores can be used to improve the fermentation process.

Biofilm and Spore Formation of Clostridium perfringens and Its Resistance to Disinfectant and Oxidative Stress

Clostridium perfringens is a major human pathogen that causes gastroenteritis via enterotoxin production and has the ability to form spores and biofilms for environmental persistence and disease transmission. This study aimed to compare the disinfectant and environmental resistance properties of C. perfringens vegetative cells and spores in planktonic and sessile conditions, and to examine the nucleotide polymorphisms and transcription under sessile conditions in C. perfringens strains isolated from meat. The sporulation rate of sessile C. perfringens TYJAM-D-66 (cpe+) was approximately 19% at day 5, while those of CMM-C-80 (cpe−) and SDE-B-202 (cpe+) were only 0.26% and 0.67%, respectively, at day 7. When exposed to aerobic conditions for 36 h, TYJAM-D-66, CMM-C-80, and SDE-B-202 vegetative cells showed 1.70 log, 5.36 log, and 5.67 log reductions, respectively. After treatment with sodium hypochlorite, the survival rates of TYJAM-D-66 vegetative cells (53.6%) and spores (82.3%) in biofilms were higher than those of planktonic cells (9.23%). Biofilm- and spore-related genes showed different expression within TYJAM-D-66 (–4.66~113.5), CMM-C-80 (–3.02~2.49), and SDE-B-202 (–5.07~2.73). Our results indicate the resistance of sessile cells and spores of C. perfringens upon exposure to stress conditions after biofilm formation.

Distribution and preservation of the components of the engulfment. What is beyond representative genomes?

Engulfment requires the coordinated, targeted synthesis and degradation of peptidoglycan at the leading edge of the engulfing membrane to allow the mother cell to completely engulf the forespore. Proteins such as the DMP and Q:AH complexes in Bacillus subtilis are essential for engulfment, as are a set of accessory proteins including GerM and SpoIIB, among others. Experimental and bioinformatic studies of these proteins in bacteria distinct from Bacillus subtilis indicate that fundamental differences exist regarding the organization and mechanisms used to successfully perform engulfment. As a consequence, the distribution and prevalence of the proteins involved in engulfment and other proteins that participate in different sporulation stages have been studied using bioinformatic approaches. These works are based on the prediction of orthologs in the genomes of representative Firmicutes and have been helpful in tracing hypotheses about the origin and evolution of sporulation genes, some of which have been postulated as sporulation signatures. To date, an extensive study of these signatures outside of the representative Firmicutes is not available. Here, we asked whether phyletic profiles of proteins involved in engulfment can be used as signatures able to describe the sporulation phenotype. We tested this hypothesis in a set of 954 Firmicutes, finding preserved phyletic profiles defining signatures at the genus level. Finally, a phylogenetic reconstruction based on non-redundant phyletic profiles at the family level shows the non-monophyletic origin of these proteins due to gain/loss events along the phylum Firmicutes.

Changes in efflux pump activity of Clostridium beijerinckii throughout ABE fermentation

Pumping toxic substances through a cytoplasmic membrane by protein transporters known as efflux pumps represents one bacterial mechanism involved in the stress response to the presence of toxic compounds. The active efflux might also take part in exporting low-molecular-weight alcohols produced by intrinsic cell metabolism; in the case of solventogenic clostridia, predominantly acetone, butanol and ethanol (ABE). However, little is known about this active efflux, even though some evidence exists that membrane pumps might be involved in solvent tolerance. In this study, we investigated changes in overall active efflux during ABE fermentation, employing a flow cytometric protocol adjusted for Clostridia and using ethidium bromide (EB) as a fluorescence marker for quantification of direct efflux. A fluctuation in efflux during the course of standard ABE fermentation was observed, with a maximum reached during late acidogenesis, a high efflux rate during early and mid-solventogenesis and an apparent decrease in EB efflux rate in late solventogenesis. The fluctuation in efflux activity was in accordance with transcriptomic data obtained for various membrane exporters in a former study. Surprisingly, under altered cultivation conditions, when solvent production was attenuated, and extended acidogenesis was promoted, stable low efflux activity was reached after an initial peak that appeared in the stage comparable to standard ABE fermentation. This study confirmed that efflux pump activity is not constant during ABE fermentation and suggests that undisturbed solvent production might be a trigger for activation of pumps involved in solvent efflux. KEY POINTS: • Flow cytometric assay for efflux quantification in Clostridia was established. • Efflux rate peaked in late acidogenesis and in early solventogenesis. • Impaired solventogenesis led to an overall decrease in efflux.

Bacterial Spore mRNA - What's Up With That?

Bacteria belonging to the orders Bacillales and Clostridiales form spores in response to nutrient starvation. From a simplified morphological perspective, the spore can be considered as comprising a central protoplast or core, that is, enveloped sequentially by an inner membrane (IM), a peptidoglycan cortex, an outer membrane, and a proteinaceous coat. All of these structures are characterized by unique morphological and/or structural features, which collectively confer metabolic dormancy and properties of environmental resistance to the quiescent spore. These properties are maintained until the spore is stimulated to germinate, outgrow and form a new vegetative cell. Spore germination comprises a series of partially overlapping biochemical and biophysical events - efflux of ions from the core, rehydration and IM reorganization, disassembly of cortex and coat - all of which appear to take place in the absence of de novo ATP and protein synthesis. If the latter points are correct, why then do spores of all species examined to date contain a diverse range of mRNA molecules deposited within the spore core? Are some of these molecules "functional," serving as translationally active units that are required for efficient spore germination and outgrowth, or are they just remnants from sporulation whose sole purpose is to provide a reservoir of ribonucleotides for the newly outgrowing cell? What is the fate of these molecules during spore senescence, and indeed, are conditions within the spore core likely to provide any opportunity for changes in the transcriptional profile of the spore during dormancy? This review encompasses a historical perspective of spore ribonucleotide biology, from the earliest biochemical led analyses - some of which in hindsight have proved to be remarkably prescient - through the transcriptomic era at the turn of this century, to the latest next generation sequencing derived insights. We provide an overview of the key literature to facilitate reasoned responses to the aforementioned questions, and many others, prior to concluding by identifying the major outstanding issues in this crucial area of spore biology.

Gene coexpression network analysis reveals a novel metabolic mechanism of Clostridium acetobutylicum responding to phenolic inhibitors from lignocellulosic hydrolysates

BACKGROUND

Lignocellulosic biomass is a promising resource of renewable biochemicals and biofuels. However, the presence of inhibitors existing in lignocellulosic hydrolysates (LCH) is a great challenge to acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by Clostridium acetobutylicum. In particular, phenolic compounds (PCs) from LCH severely block ABE production even at low concentrations. Thus, it is urgent to gain insight into the intracellular metabolic disturbances caused by phenolic inhibitors and elucidate the underlying mechanisms to identify key industrial bottlenecks that undermine efficient ABE production.

RESULTS

In this study, a time-course of ABE fermentation by C. acetobutylicum in the presence of four typical PCs (syringaldehyde, vanillin, ferulic acid, and p-coumaric acid) was characterized, respectively. Addition of PCs caused different irreversible effects on ABE production. Specifically, syringaldehyde showed the greatest inhibition to butanol production, followed by vanillin, ferulic acid, and p-coumaric acid. Subsequently, a weighted gene co-expression network analysis (WGCNA) based on RNA-sequencing data was applied to identify metabolic perturbations caused by four LCH-derived PCs, and extract the gene modules associated with extracellular fermentation traits. The hub genes in each module were subjected to protein-protein interaction analysis and enrichment analysis. The results showed that functional modules were PC-dependent and shared some unique features. Specifically, p-coumaric acid caused the most extensive transcriptomic disturbances, particularly affecting the gene expressions of ribosome proteins and the assembly of flagella, DNA replication, repair, and recombination; the addition of syringaldehyde caused significant metabolic disturbances on the gene expressions of ribosome proteins, starch and sucrose metabolism; vanillin mainly disturbed purine metabolism, sporulation and signal transduction; and ferulic acid caused a metabolic disturbance on glycosyl transferase-related gene expressions.

CONCLUSION

This study uncovers novel insights into the inhibitory mechanisms of PCs for the first time and provides guidance for future metabolic engineering efforts, which establishes a powerful foundation for the development of phenol-tolerant strains of C. acetobutylicum for economically sustainable ABE production with high productivity from lignocellulosic biomass.

Interspecies Microbial Fusion and Large-Scale Exchange of Cytoplasmic Proteins and RNA in a Syntrophic Clostridium Coculture

Microbial syntrophy is universal in nature, profoundly affecting the composition and function of microbiomes. We have recently reported data suggesting direct cell-to-cell interactions leading to electron and material exchange between the two microbes in the syntrophy between Clostridium ljungdahlii and C. acetobutylicum Here, transmission electron microscopy and electron tomography demonstrated cell wall and membrane fusions between the two organisms, whereby C. ljungdahlii appears to invade C. acetobutylicum pole to pole. Correlative fluorescence transmission electron microscopy demonstrated large-scale exchange of proteins. Flow cytometry analysis captured the extent and dynamic persistence of these interactions. Dividing hybrid cells were identified containing stained proteins from both organisms, thus demonstrating persistence of cells with exchanged cellular components. Fluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry of one species with stained RNA and the other tagged with a fluorescent protein demonstrated extensive RNA exchange and identified hybrid cells, some of which continued to divide, while some were in an advanced C. acetobutylicum sporulation form. These data demonstrate that cell fusion enables large-scale cellular material exchange between the two organisms. Although unanticipated and never previously reported, these phenomena are likely widely distributed in nature, have profound implications for species evolution and the function of microbial communities, and could find utility in biotechnology. They may shed new light onto little-understood phenomena, such as antibiotic heteroresistance of pathogens, pathogen invasion of human tissues, and the evolutionary trajectory and persistence of unculturable bacteria.IMPORTANCE We report that two different bacterial organisms engage in heterologous cell fusion that leads to massive exchange of cellular material, including proteins and RNA, and the formation of persistent hybrid cells. The interspecies cell fusion observed here involves a syntrophic microbial system, but these heterologous cell fusions were observed even under nonstrict syntrophic conditions, leaving open the possibility that strict syntrophy may not be necessary for interspecies cell fusion and cellular material exchange. Formation of hybrid cells that contain proteins and RNA from both organisms is unexpected and unprecedented. Such fusion events are likely widely distributed in nature, but have gone undetected. The implications are profound and may shed light onto many unexplained phenomena in human health, natural environments, evolutionary biology, and biotechnology.

Acidogenesis, solventogenesis, metabolic stress response and life cycle changes in Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 at the transcriptomic level

Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 is a sporulating, butanol and hydrogen producing strain that utilizes carbohydrates by the acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentative pathway. The pathway consists of two metabolic phases, acidogenesis and solventogenesis, from which the latter one can be coupled with sporulation. Thorough transcriptomic profiling during a complete life cycle and both metabolic phases completed with flow cytometry, microscopy and a metabolites analysis helped to find out key genes involved in particular cellular events. The description of genes/operons that are closely involved in metabolism or the cell cycle is a necessary condition for metabolic engineering of the strain and will be valuable for all C. beijerinckii strains and other Clostridial species. The study focused on glucose transport and catabolism, hydrogen formation, metabolic stress response, binary fission, motility/chemotaxis and sporulation, which resulted in the composition of the unique image reflecting clostridial population changes. Surprisingly, the main change in expression of individual genes was coupled with the sporulation start and not with the transition from acidogenic to solventogenic metabolism. As expected, solvents formation started at pH decrease and the accumulation of butyric and acetic acids in the cultivation medium.

Direct cell-to-cell exchange of matter in a synthetic Clostridium syntrophy enables CO2 fixation, superior metabolite yields, and an expanded metabolic space

In microbial fermentations at least 33% of the sugar-substrate carbon is lost as CO₂ during pyruvate decarboxylation to acetyl-CoA, with the corresponding electrons lost in the form of H₂. Previous attempts to reduce this carbon and electron loss focused on engineering of a single organism. In nature, most microorganisms live in complex communities where syntrophic interactions result in superior resource utilization. Here, we show that a synthetic syntrophy consisting of the solventogen Clostridium acetobutylicum, which converts simple and complex carbohydrates into a variety of chemicals, and the acetogen C. ljungdahlii which fixes CO₂, achieved carbon recoveries into C2-C4 alcohols almost to the limit of substrate-electron availability, with minimal H₂ and CO₂ release. The syntrophic co-culture produced robust metabolic outcomes over a broad range of starting population ratios of the two organisms. We show that direct cell-to-cell interactions and material exchange among the two microbes enabled unforeseen rearrangements in the metabolism of the individual species that resulted in the production of non-native metabolites, namely isopropanol and 2,3-butanediol. This was accomplished by pathway-specific alterations of gene expression brought about by one organism on the other, and vice versa. While some of these gene-expression alterations can be explained by the exchange of metabolites that induce specific gene expression patterns, others, as demonstrated by co-culture setup in a transwell system, cannot. The latter, for now, would be attributed to complex direct physical interactions among the two organisms, thus providing a glimpse of the potential microbial complexity of simple or multicomponent microbiomes. Such direct material-transfer phenomena have not been documented in the literature. Furthermore, our study shows that syntrophic cultures offer a flexible platform for metabolite production with superior carbon recovery that can also be applied to electron-enhanced fermentations enabling even higher carbon recoveries.

Diversity of bacteria associated with corn roots inoculated with Canadian woodland soils, and description of Pseudomonas aylmerense sp. nov

Bacteria associated with corn roots inoculated with soils collected from the Canadian woodlands were isolated and characterized. Genus-level identification based on 16S rRNA sequence analysis classified the 161 isolates in 19 genera. The majority (64%) of the isolates were affiliated with the genus Pseudomonas. Further analysis of the Pseudomonas isolates based on BLASTn and rpoD-rpoB-gyrB concatenated gene phylogeny revealed three unique clusters that could not be assigned to known species. This study reports the taxonomic description of one of the distinct lineages represented by two strains (S1E40^T and S1E44) with P. lurida LMG 21995^T, P. costantinii LMG 22119^T, P. palleroniana LMG 23076^T, P. simiae CCUG 50988^T and P. extremorientalis LMG 19695^T as the closest taxa. Both strains showed low ANIm (<90%) and genome-based DNA-DNA hybridization (<50%) values, which unequivocally delineated the new strains from the closest relatives. These findings were supported by multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) and DNA fingerprinting. In addition, growth characteristics and biochemical tests revealed patterns that differed from the related species. Strains S1E40^T and S1E44 are Gram-negative, aerobic, rod-shaped and motile by at least one flagellum; and grew optimally at 30 °C. The predominant polar lipid is phosphatidylethanolamine while the major respiratory quinone is ubiquinone-9. Based on phenotypic and genotypic data presented here, strains S1E40^T and S1E44 represent a novel species for which the name Pseudomonas aylmerense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is S1E40^T (= LMG 30784^T = DOAB 703^T = HAMI 3696^T) with a G + C content of 61.6%.

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.

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.

Functional Expression of the Clostridium ljungdahlii Acetyl-Coenzyme A Synthase in Clostridium acetobutylicum as Demonstrated by a Novel In Vivo CO Exchange Activity En Route to Heterologous Installation of a Functional Wood-Ljungdahl Pathway

Engineering the Wood-Ljungdahl pathway (WLP) in the established industrial organism Clostridium acetobutylicum would allow for the conversion of carbohydrates into butanol, acetone, and other metabolites at higher yields than are currently possible, while minimizing CO₂ and H₂ release. To this effect, we expressed 11 Clostridium ljungdahlii core genes coding for enzymes and accessory proteins of the WLP in Clostridium acetobutylicum The engineered WLP in C. acetobutylicum showed functionality of the eastern branch of the pathway based on the formation of labeled 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate from ¹³C-labeled formate, as well as functionality of the western branch as evidenced by the formation of CO from CO₂ However, the lack of labeling in acetate and butyrate pools indicated that the connection between the two branches is not functional. The focus of our investigation then centered on the functional expression of the acetyl-coenzyme A (CoA) synthase (ACS), which forms a complex with the CO dehydrogenase (CODH) and serves to link the two branches of the WLP. The CODH/ACS complex catalyzes the reduction of CO₂ to CO and the condensation of CO with a methyl group to form acetyl-CoA, respectively. Here, we show the simultaneous activities of the two recombinant enzymes. We demonstrate in vivo the classical in vitro ACS carbonyl carbon exchange assay, whereby the carbonyl carbon of acetyl-CoA is exchanged with the CO carbon. Our data suggest that the low heterologous expression of ACS may limit the functionality of the heterologous WLP in C. acetobutylicum IMPORTANCE The bifunctional carbon monoxide dehydrogenase/acetyl-CoA synthase (CODH/ACS) from C. ljungdahlii was heterologously expressed in the obligate heterotroph C. acetobutylicum The functional activity of the CODH was confirmed through both the oxidation and reduction of CO, as had previously been shown for the heterologous CODH from Clostridium carboxidivorans Significantly, a novel in vivo assay for ACS exchange activity using ¹³C-tracers was developed and used to confirm functional ACS expression.

Protein Acetylation and Butyrylation Regulate the Phenotype and Metabolic Shifts of the Endospore-forming Clostridium acetobutylicum

Clostridium acetobutylicum is a strict anaerobic, endospore-forming bacterium, which is used for the production of the high energy biofuel butanol in metabolic engineering. The life cycle of C. acetobutylicum can be divided into two phases, with acetic and butyric acids being produced in the exponential phase (acidogenesis) and butanol formed in the stationary phase (solventogenesis). During the transitional phase from acidogenesis to solventogenesis and latter stationary phase, concentration peaks of the metabolic intermediates butyryl phosphate and acetyl phosphate are observed. As an acyl group donor, acyl-phosphate chemically acylates protein substrates. However, the regulatory mechanism of lysine acetylation and butyrylation involved in the phenotype and solventogenesis of C. acetobutylicum remains unknown. In our study, we conducted quantitative analysis of protein acetylome and butyrylome to explore the dynamic change of lysine acetylation and butyrylation in the exponential phase, transitional phase, and stationary phase of C. acetobutylicum Total 458 lysine acetylation sites and 1078 lysine butyrylation sites were identified in 254 and 373 substrates, respectively. Bioinformatics analysis uncovered the similarities and differences between the two acylation modifications in C. acetobutylicum Mutation analysis of butyrate kinase and the central transcriptional factor Spo0A was performed to characterize the unique role of lysine butyrylation in the metabolic pathway and sporulation process of C. acetobutylicum Moreover, quantitative proteomic assays were performed to reveal the relationship between protein features (e.g. gene expression level and lysine acylation level) and metabolites in the three growth stages. This study expanded our knowledge of lysine acetylation and butyrylation in Clostridia and constituted a resource for functional studies on lysine acylation in bacteria.

The industrial anaerobe Clostridium acetobutylicum uses polyketides to regulate cellular differentiation

Polyketides are an important class of bioactive small molecules valued not only for their diverse therapeutic applications, but also for their role in controlling interesting biological phenotypes in their producing organisms. While numerous polyketides are known to be derived from aerobic organisms, only a single family of polyketides has been identified from anaerobic organisms. Here we uncover a family of polyketides native to the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, an organism well-known for its historical use as an industrial producer of the organic solvents acetone, butanol, and ethanol. Through mutational analysis and chemical complementation assays, we demonstrate that these polyketides act as chemical triggers of sporulation and granulose accumulation in this strain. This study represents a significant addition to the body of work demonstrating the existence and importance of polyketides in anaerobes, and showcases a strategy of manipulating the secondary metabolism of an organism to improve traits relevant for industrial applications.

Polyketides are secondary metabolites mainly found in aerobic organisms with wide applications in medicine and agriculture. Here, the authors uncover new polyketides native to the anaerobic bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum and show their role in triggering sporulation and granulose accumulation.

Comparison of expression of key sporulation, solventogenic and acetogenic genes in C. beijerinckii NRRL B-598 and its mutant strain overexpressing spo0A

The production of acetone, butanol and ethanol by fermentation of renewable biomass has potential to become a valuable industrial process. Mechanisms of solvent production and sporulation involve some common regulators in some ABE-producing clostridia, although details of the links between the pathways are not clear. In this study, we compare a wild-type (WT) Clostridium beijerinckii NRRL B-598 with its mutant strain OESpo0A, in which the gene encoding Spo0A, an important regulator of both sporulation and solventogenesis, is overexpressed in terms of solvent and acid production. We also compare morphologies during growth on two different media: TYA broth, where the WT culture sporulates, and RCM, where the WT culture does not. In addition, RT-qPCR-based analysis of expression profiles of spo0A, spoIIE, sigG, spoVD, ald and buk1 genes involved in sporulation or solvent production in these strains, were compared. The OESpo0A mutant did not produce spores and butanol titre was lower compared to the WT, but increased amounts of butyric acid and ethanol were produced. The gene spo0A had high levels of expression in the WT under non-sporulating culture conditions while other selected genes for sporulation factors were downregulated significantly. Similar observations were obtained for OESpo0A where spo0A overexpression and downregulation of other sporulation genes were demonstrated. Higher expression of spo0A led to higher expression of buk1 and ald, which could confirm the role of spo0A in activation of the solventogenic pathway, although solvent production was not affected significantly in the WT and was weakened in the OESpo0A mutant.

Heat shock and prolonged heat stress attenuate neurotoxin and sporulation gene expression in group I Clostridium botulinum strain ATCC 3502

Foodborne pathogenic bacteria are exposed to a number of environmental stresses during food processing, storage, and preparation, and in the human body. In order to improve the safety of food, the understanding of molecular stress response mechanisms foodborne pathogens employ is essential. Many response mechanisms that are activated during heat shock may cross-protect bacteria against other environmental stresses. To better understand the molecular mechanisms Clostridium botulinum, the causative agent of botulism, utilizes during acute heat stress and during adaptation to stressfully high temperature, the C. botulinum Group I strain ATCC 3502 was grown in continuous culture at 39°C and exposed to heat shock at 45°C, followed by prolonged heat stress at 45°C to allow adaptation of the culture to the high temperature. Growth in continuous culture was performed to exclude secondary growth phase effects or other environmental impacts on bacterial gene transcription. Changes in global gene expression profiles were studied using DNA microarray hybridization. During acute heat stress, Class I and III heat shock genes as well as members of the SOS regulon were activated. The neurotoxin gene botA and genes encoding the neurotoxin-associated proteins were suppressed throughout the study. Prolonged heat stress led to suppression of the sporulation machinery whereas genes related to chemotaxis and motility were activated. Induced expression of a large proportion of prophage genes was detected, suggesting an important role of acquired genes in the stress resistance of C. botulinum. Finally, changes in the expression of a large number of genes related to carbohydrate and amino acid metabolism indicated remodeling of the cellular metabolism.

Adenine Addition Restores Cell Viability and Butanol Production in Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum N1-4 (ATCC 13564) Cultivated at 37°C

We have developed butanol-producing consolidated bioprocessing from cellulosic substrates through coculture of cellulolytic clostridia and butanol-producing Clostridium saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4. However, the butanol fermentation by strain N1-4 (which has an optimal growth temperature of 30°C) is sensitive to the higher cultivation temperature of 37°C; the nature of this deleterious effect remains unclear. Comparison of the intracellular metabolites of strain N1-4 cultivated at 30°C and 37°C revealed decreased levels of multiple primary metabolites (notably including nucleic acids and cofactors) during growth at the higher temperature. Supplementation of the culture medium with 250 mg/liter adenine enhanced both cell growth (with the optical density at 600 nm increasing from 4.3 to 10.2) and butanol production (increasing from 3.9 g/liter to 9.6 g/liter) at 37°C, compared to those obtained without adenine supplementation, such that the supplemented 37°C culture exhibited growth and butanol production approaching those observed at 30°C in the absence of adenine supplementation. These improved properties were based on the maintenance of cell viability. We further showed that adenine supplementation enhanced cell viability during growth at 37°C by maintaining ATP levels and inhibiting spore formation. This work represents the first demonstration (to our knowledge) of the importance of adenine-related metabolism for clostridial butanol production, suggesting a new means of enhancing target pathways based on metabolite levels.IMPORTANCE Metabolomic analysis revealed decreased levels of multiple primary metabolites during growth at 37°C, compared to 30°C, in C. saccharoperbutylacetonicum strain N1-4. We found that adenine supplementation restored the cell growth and butanol production of strain N1-4 at 37°C. The effects of adenine supplementation reflected the maintenance of cell viability originating from the maintenance of ATP levels and the inhibition of spore formation. Thus, our metabolomic analysis identified the depleted metabolites that were required to maintain cell viability. Our strategy, which is expected to be applicable to a wide range of organisms, permits the identification of the limiting metabolic pathway, which can serve as a new target for molecular breeding. The other novel finding of this work is that adenine supplementation inhibits clostridial spore formation. The mechanism linking spore formation and metabolomic status in butanol-producing clostridia is expected to be the focus of further research.

Metabolic flexibility of a butyrate pathway mutant of Clostridium acetobutylicum

Clostridium acetobutylicum possesses two homologous buk genes, buk (or buk1) and buk2, which encode butyrate kinases involved in the last step of butyrate formation. To investigate the contribution of buk in detail, an in-frame deletion mutant was constructed. However, in all the Δbuk mutants obtained, partial deletions of the upstream ptb gene were observed, and low phosphotransbutyrylase and butyrate kinase activities were measured. This demonstrates that i) buk (CA_C3075) is the key butyrate kinase-encoding gene and that buk2 (CA_C1660) that is poorly transcribed only plays a minor role; and ii) strongly suggests that a Δbuk mutant is not viable if the ptb gene is not also inactivated, probably due to the accumulation of butyryl-phosphate, which might be toxic for the cell. One of the ΔbukΔptb mutants was subjected to quantitative transcriptomic (mRNA molecules/cell) and fluxomic analyses in acidogenic, solventogenic and alcohologenic chemostat cultures. In addition to the low butyrate production, drastic changes in metabolic fluxes were also observed for the mutant: i) under acidogenic conditions, the primary metabolite was butanol and a new metabolite, 2-hydroxy-valerate, was produced ii) under solventogenesis, 58% increased butanol production was obtained compared to the control strain under the same conditions, and a very high yield of butanol formation (0.3gg^-1) was reached; and iii) under alcohologenesis, the major product was lactate. Furthermore, at the transcriptional level, adhE2, which encodes an aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase and is known to be a gene specifically expressed in alcohologenesis, was surprisingly highly expressed in all metabolic states in the mutant. The results presented here not only support the key roles of buk and ptb in butyrate formation but also highlight the metabolic flexibility of C. acetobutylicum in response to genetic alteration of its primary metabolism.

Biomass, strain engineering, and fermentation processes for butanol production by solventogenic clostridia

Butanol is considered an attractive biofuel and a commercially important bulk chemical. However, economical production of butanol by solventogenic clostridia, e.g., via fermentative production of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE), is hampered by low fermentation performance, mainly as a result of toxicity of butanol to microorganisms and high substrate costs. Recently, sugars from marine macroalgae and syngas were recognized as potent carbon sources in biomass feedstocks that are abundant and do not compete for arable land with edible crops. With the aid of systems metabolic engineering, many researchers have developed clostridial strains with improved performance on fermentation of these substrates. Alternatively, fermentation strategies integrated with butanol recovery processes such as adsorption, gas stripping, liquid-liquid extraction, and pervaporation have been designed to increase the overall titer of butanol and volumetric productivity. Nevertheless, for economically feasible production of butanol, innovative strategies based on recent research should be implemented. This review describes and discusses recent advances in the development of biomass feedstocks, microbial strains, and fermentation processes for butanol production.

Deciphering Clostridium tyrobutyricum Metabolism Based on the Whole-Genome Sequence and Proteome Analyses

Clostridium tyrobutyricum is a Gram-positive anaerobic bacterium that efficiently produces butyric acid and is considered a promising host for anaerobic production of bulk chemicals. Due to limited knowledge on the genetic and metabolic characteristics of this strain, however, little progress has been made in metabolic engineering of this strain. Here we report the complete genome sequence of C. tyrobutyricum KCTC 5387 (ATCC 25755), which consists of a 3.07-Mbp chromosome and a 63-kbp plasmid. The results of genomic analyses suggested that C. tyrobutyricum produces butyrate from butyryl-coenzyme A (butyryl-CoA) through acetate reassimilation by CoA transferase, differently from Clostridium acetobutylicum, which uses the phosphotransbutyrylase-butyrate kinase pathway; this was validated by reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) of related genes, protein expression levels, in vitro CoA transferase assay, and fed-batch fermentation. In addition, the changes in protein expression levels during the course of batch fermentations on glucose were examined by shotgun proteomics. Unlike C. acetobutylicum, the expression levels of proteins involved in glycolytic and fermentative pathways in C. tyrobutyricum did not decrease even at the stationary phase. Proteins related to energy conservation mechanisms, including Rnf complex, NfnAB, and pyruvate-phosphate dikinase that are absent in C. acetobutylicum, were identified. Such features explain why this organism can produce butyric acid to a much higher titer and better tolerate toxic metabolites. This study presenting the complete genome sequence, global protein expression profiles, and genome-based metabolic characteristics during the batch fermentation of C. tyrobutyricum will be valuable in designing strategies for metabolic engineering of this strain.

IMPORTANCE

Bio-based production of chemicals from renewable biomass has become increasingly important due to our concerns on climate change and other environmental problems. C. tyrobutyricum has been used for efficient butyric acid production. In order to further increase the performance and expand the capabilities of this strain toward production of other chemicals, metabolic engineering needs to be performed. For this, better understanding on the metabolic and physiological characteristics of this bacterium at the genome level is needed. This work reporting the results of complete genomic and proteomic analyses together with new insights on butyric acid biosynthetic pathway and energy conservation will allow development of strategies for metabolic engineering of C. tyrobutyricum for the bio-based production of various chemicals in addition to butyric acid.

Quantitative proteomic analysis of the influence of lignin on biofuel production by Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824

BACKGROUND

Clostridium acetobutylicum has been a focus of research because of its ability to produce high-value compounds that can be used as biofuels. Lignocellulose is a promising feedstock, but the lignin-cellulose-hemicellulose biomass complex requires chemical pre-treatment to yield fermentable saccharides, including cellulose-derived cellobiose, prior to bioproduction of acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) and hydrogen. Fermentation capability is limited by lignin and thus process optimization requires knowledge of lignin inhibition. The effects of lignin on cellular metabolism were evaluated for C. acetobutylicum grown on medium containing either cellobiose only or cellobiose plus lignin. Microscopy, gas chromatography and 8-plex iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic technologies were applied to interrogate the effect of lignin on cellular morphology, fermentation and the proteome.

RESULTS

Our results demonstrate that C. acetobutylicum has reduced performance for solvent production when lignin is present in the medium. Medium supplemented with 1 g L(-1) of lignin led to delay and decreased solvents production (ethanol; 0.47 g L(-1) for cellobiose and 0.27 g L(-1) for cellobiose plus lignin and butanol; 0.13 g L(-1) for cellobiose and 0.04 g L(-1) for cellobiose plus lignin) at 20 and 48 h, respectively, resulting in the accumulation of acetic acid and butyric acid. Of 583 identified proteins (FDR < 1 %), 328 proteins were quantified with at least two unique peptides. Up- or down-regulation of protein expression was determined by comparison of exponential and stationary phases of cellobiose in the presence and absence of lignin. Of relevance, glycolysis and fermentative pathways were mostly down-regulated, during exponential and stationary growth phases in presence of lignin. Moreover, proteins involved in DNA repair, transcription/translation and GTP/ATP-dependent activities were also significantly affected and these changes were associated with altered cell morphology.

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first comprehensive analysis of the cellular responses of C. acetobutylicum to lignin at metabolic and physiological levels. These data will enable targeted metabolic engineering strategies to optimize biofuel production from biomass by overcoming limitations imposed by the presence of lignin.

Transcriptional Profile during Deoxycholate-Induced Sporulation in a Clostridium perfringens Isolate Causing Foodborne Illness

Clostridium perfringens type A is a common source of foodborne illness (FBI) in humans. Vegetative cells sporulate in the small intestinal tract and produce the major pathogenic factor C. perfringens enterotoxin. Although sporulation plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of FBI, the mechanisms inducing sporulation remain unclear. Bile salts were shown previously to induce sporulation, and we confirmed deoxycholate (DCA)-induced sporulation in C. perfringens strain NCTC8239 cocultured with human intestinal epithelial Caco-2 cells. In the present study, we performed transcriptome analyses of strain NCTC8239 in order to elucidate the mechanism underlying DCA-induced sporulation. Of the 2,761 genes analyzed, 333 were up- or downregulated during DCA-induced sporulation and included genes for cell division, nutrient metabolism, signal transduction, and defense mechanisms. In contrast, the virulence-associated transcriptional regulators (the VirR/VirS system, the agr system, codY, and abrB) were not activated by DCA. DCA markedly increased the expression of signaling molecules controlled by Spo0A, the master regulator of the sporulation process, whereas the expression of spo0A itself was not altered in the presence or absence of DCA. The phosphorylation of Spo0A was enhanced in the presence of DCA. Collectively, these results demonstrated that DCA induced sporulation, at least partially, by facilitating the phosphorylation of Spo0A and activating Spo0A-regulated genes in strain NCTC8239 while altering the expression of various genes.

IMPORTANCE

Disease caused by Clostridium perfringens type A consistently ranks among the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses in humans in developed countries. The sporulation of C. perfringens in the small intestinal tract is a key event for its pathogenesis, but the factors and underlying mechanisms by which C. perfringens sporulates in vivo currently remain unclear. Bile salts, major components of bile, which is secreted from the liver for the emulsification of lipids, were shown to induce sporulation. However, the mechanisms underlying bile salt-induced sporulation have not yet been clarified. In the present study, we demonstrate that deoxycholate (one of the bile salts) induces sporulation by facilitating the phosphorylation of Spo0A and activating Spo0A-regulated genes using a transcriptome analysis. Thus, this study enhances our understanding of the mechanisms underlying sporulation, particularly that of bile salt-induced sporulation, in C. perfringens.

Evaluation of viability, metabolic activity and spore quantity in clostridial cultures during ABE fermentation

Flow cytometry, in combination with fluorescent staining, was used to evaluate population heterogeneity in acetone-butanol-ethanol fermentation that was carried out with type strain Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 and non-type C. pasteurianum NRRL B-598. A combination of propidium iodide (PI) and carboxyfluorescein diacetate (CFDA), PI plus Syto-9 and bis-oxonol (BOX) alone were employed to distinguish between active and damaged cells together with simultaneous detection of spores. These strategies provided valuable information on the physiological state of clostridia. CFDA and PI staining gave the best separation of four distinct subpopulations of enzymatically active cells, doubly stained cells, damaged cells and spores. Proportional representation of cells in particular sub-regions correlated with growth characteristics, fermentation parameters such as substrate consumption and product formation in both species under different cultivation conditions.

Metabolic modeling of clostridia: current developments and applications

Anaerobic Clostridium spp. is an important bioproduction microbial genus that can produce solvents and utilize a broad spectrum of substrates including cellulose and syngas. Genome-scale metabolic (GSM) models are increasingly being put forth for various clostridial strains to explore their respective metabolic capabilities and suitability for various bioconversions. In this study, we have selected representative GSM models for six different clostridia (Clostridium acetobutylicum, C. beijerinckii, C. butyricum, C. cellulolyticum, C. ljungdahlii and C. thermocellum) and performed a detailed model comparison contrasting their metabolic repertoire. We also discuss various applications of these GSM models to guide metabolic engineering interventions as well as assessing cellular physiology.

Periodic-peristole agitation for process enhancement of butanol fermentation

BACKGROUND

Mass transfer plays an important role in determining the efficiency of the biofuel conversion. However, adverse effect of shear stress from traditional agitation inhibits the cell growth and production of biofuels. How to enhance the mass transfer with less adverse effect is considered as one of the important bioengineering issues.

RESULTS

In this study, a novel agitation type, named periodic-peristole was applied to butanol fermentation with Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824. Meanwhile, the enhancement mechanism was studied. Initially, the fermentation performance of periodic-peristole agitation was compared with the traditional Rushton impeller and stationary cultivation. Result showed that the biomass, butanol and total solvent in periodic-peristole group (PPG) was enhanced to 1.92-, 2.06-, and 2.4-fold of those in the traditional Rushton impeller group (TIG), as well as 1.64-, 1.19- and 1.41-fold of those in the stationary group (SG). Subsequently, to get in-depth insight into enhancement mechanism, hydromechanics analysis and metabolic flux analysis (MFA) were carried out. The periodic-peristole agitation exhibits significant difference on velocity distribution, shear force, and mixing efficiency from the traditional Rushton impeller agitation. And the shear force in PPG is only 74 % of that in TIG. According to MFA result, fructose 6-phosphate, pyruvate, acetyl-CoA, oxaloacetate and α-ketoglutarate were determined the key nodes of cells in response to hydrodynamic mechanical stress. Based on such key information, rational enhancement strategies were proposed and butanol production was further improved.

CONCLUSION

The agitation associated with three issues which resulted in significant changes in cell metabolic behaviors: first, a rebalanced redox status; second, the energy (ATP) acquirement and consumption; third, the tolerance mechanism of the cell for survival of solvent. Periodic-peristole agitation provides an answer to address a long-standing problem of biofuel engineering. Key information derived from current study deepens the understanding of agitation, which can guide the designment of new bioreactors and development of enhancement strategies for biofuel refinery.

A Quantitative System-Scale Characterization of the Metabolism of Clostridium acetobutylicum

Engineering industrial microorganisms for ambitious applications, for example, the production of second-generation biofuels such as butanol, is impeded by a lack of knowledge of primary metabolism and its regulation. A quantitative system-scale analysis was applied to the biofuel-producing bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum, a microorganism used for the industrial production of solvent. An improved genome-scale model, iCac967, was first developed based on thorough biochemical characterizations of 15 key metabolic enzymes and on extensive literature analysis to acquire accurate fluxomic data. In parallel, quantitative transcriptomic and proteomic analyses were performed to assess the number of mRNA molecules per cell for all genes under acidogenic, solventogenic, and alcohologenic steady-state conditions as well as the number of cytosolic protein molecules per cell for approximately 700 genes under at least one of the three steady-state conditions. A complete fluxomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analysis applied to different metabolic states allowed us to better understand the regulation of primary metabolism. Moreover, this analysis enabled the functional characterization of numerous enzymes involved in primary metabolism, including (i) the enzymes involved in the two different butanol pathways and their cofactor specificities, (ii) the primary hydrogenase and its redox partner, (iii) the major butyryl coenzyme A (butyryl-CoA) dehydrogenase, and (iv) the major glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase. This study provides important information for further metabolic engineering of C. acetobutylicum to develop a commercial process for the production of n-butanol.

Currently, there is a resurgence of interest in Clostridium acetobutylicum, the biocatalyst of the historical Weizmann process, to produce n-butanol for use both as a bulk chemical and as a renewable alternative transportation fuel. To develop a commercial process for the production of n-butanol via a metabolic engineering approach, it is necessary to better characterize both the primary metabolism of C. acetobutylicum and its regulation. Here, we apply a quantitative system-scale analysis to acidogenic, solventogenic, and alcohologenic steady-state C. acetobutylicum cells and report for the first time quantitative transcriptomic, proteomic, and fluxomic data. This approach allows for a better understanding of the regulation of primary metabolism and for the functional characterization of numerous enzymes involved in primary metabolism.