Impact of acetolactate synthase inactivation on 1,3-propanediol fermentation by Klebsiella pneumoniae

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO) is an important compound that is mainly used in industry for polymer production. Fermentation of 1,3-PDO from glycerol by Klebsiella pneumoniae is accompanied by formation of 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) as one of the main byproduct. The first step in the formation of 2,3-BDO from pyruvate is catalyzed by acetolactate synthase (ALS), an enzyme that competes with 1,3-PDO oxidoreductase for the cofactor NADH. This study aimed to analyze the impact of engineering the 2,3-BDO formation pathway via inactivation of ALS on 1,3-PDO fermentation by K. pneumoniae HSL4. An ALS mutant was generated using Red recombinase assisted gene replacement. The ALS specific activities of K. pneumoniae ΔALS were notably lower than that of the wild-type strain. Fed-batch fermentation of the mutant strain resulted in a 1,3-PDO concentration, productivity and conversion of 72.04 g L^–1, 2.25 g L^–1 h^–1, and 0.41 g g^–1, increase by 4.71%, 4.65% and 1.99% compared with the parent strain. Moreover, inactivation of ALS decreased meso-2,3-BDO formation to trace amounts, significantly increased 2S,3S-BDO and lactate production, and a pronounced redistribution of intracellular metabolic flux was apparent.