Engineering Escherichia coli for odd straight medium chain free fatty acid production

Microbial biosynthesis of free fatty acids (FFAs) can be achieved by introducing an acyl–acyl carrier protein thioesterase gene into Escherichia coli. The engineered E. coli usually produced even chain FFAs. In this study, propionyl-CoA synthetase (prpE) from Salmonella enterica was overexpressed in two efficient even chain FFAs producers, ML103 (pXZM12) carrying the acyl-ACP thioesterase gene from Umbellularia californica and ML103 (pXZ18) carrying the acyl-ACP thioesterase gene from Ricinus communis combined with supplement of extracellular propionate. With these metabolically engineered E. coli, the odd straight chain FFAs, undecanoic acid (C11:0), tridecanoic acid (C13:0), and pentadecanoic acid (C15:0) were produced from glucose and propionate. The highest total odd straight chain FFAs produced by ML103 (pXZM12, pBAD-prpE) reached 276 mg/l with a ratio of 23.43 % of the total FFAs. In ML103 (pXZ18, pBAD-prpE), the highest total odd straight chain FFAs accumulated to 297 mg/l, and the ratio reached 17.68 % of the total FFAs. Due to the different substrate specificity of the acyl-ACP thioesterases, the major odd straight chain FFA components of ML103 (pXZM12, pBAD-prpE) were undecanoic acid and tridecanoic acid, while the ML103 (pXZ18, pBAD-prpE) preferred pentadecanoic acid.     

Efficient free fatty acid production in Escherichia coli using plant acyl-ACP thioesterases

Microbial biosynthesis of fatty acid-like chemicals from renewable carbon sources has attracted significant attention in recent years. Free fatty acids can be used as precursors for the production of fuels or chemicals. Free fatty acids can be produced by introducing an acyl–acyl carrier protein thioesterase gene into Escherichia coli. The presence of the acyl-ACP thioesterase will break the fatty acid elongation cycle and release free fatty acid. Depending on their sequence similarity and substrate specificity, class FatA thioesterase is active on unsaturated acyl-ACPs and class FatB prefers saturated acyl group. Different acyl-ACP thioesterases have different degrees of chain length specificity. Although some of these enzymes have been characterized from a number of sources, information on their ability to produce free fatty acid in microbial cells has not been extensively examined until recently. In this study, we examined the effect of the overexpression of acyl-ACP thioesterase genes from Diploknema butyracea, Gossypium hirsutum, Ricinus communis and Jatropha curcas on free fatty acid production. In particular, we are interested in studying the effect of different acyl-ACP thioesterase on the quantities and compositions of free fatty acid produced by an E. coli strain ML103 carrying these constructs. It is shown that the accumulation of free fatty acid depends on the acyl-ACP thioesterase used. The strain carrying the acyl-ACP thioesterase gene from D. butyracea produced approximately 0.2 g/L of free fatty acid while the strains carrying the acyl-ACP thioesterase genes from R. communis and J. curcas produced the most free fatty acid at a high level of more than 2.0 g/L at 48 h. These two strains accumulated three major straight chain free fatty acids, C14, C16:1 and C16 at levels about 40%, 35% and 20%, respectively.     

Efficient free fatty acid production in engineered Escherichia coli strains using soybean oligosaccharides as feedstock

To be competitive with current petrochemicals, microbial synthesis of free fatty acids can be made to rely on a variety of renewable resources rather than on food carbon sources, which increase its attraction for governments and companies. Industrial waste soybean meal is an inexpensive feedstock, which contains soluble sugars such as stachyose, raffinose, sucrose, glucose, galactose, and fructose. Free fatty acids were produced in this report by introducing an acyl‐ACP carrier protein thioesterase and (3R)‐hydroxyacyl‐ACP dehydratase into E. coli. Plasmid pRU600 bearing genes involved in raffinose and sucrose metabolism was also transformed into engineered E. coli strains, which allowed more efficient utilization of these two kinds of specific oligosaccharide present in the soybean meal extract. Strain ML103 (pRU600, pXZ18Z) produced ～1.60 and 2.66 g/L of free fatty acids on sucrose and raffinose, respectively. A higher level of 2.92 g/L fatty acids was obtained on sugar mixture. The fatty acid production using hydrolysate obtained from acid or enzyme based hydrolysis was evaluated. Engineered strains just produced ～0.21 g/L of free fatty acids with soybean meal acid hydrolysate. However, a fatty acid production of 2.61 g/L with a high yield of 0.19 g/g total sugar was observed on an enzymatic hydrolysate. The results suggest that complex mixtures of oligosaccharides derived from soybean meal can serve as viable feedstock to produce free fatty acids. Enzymatic hydrolysis acts as a much more efficient treatment than acid hydrolysis to facilitate the transformation of industrial waste from soybean processing to high value added chemicals. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 31:686–694, 2015     

Improving fatty acid production in Escherichia coli through the overexpression of malonyl coA-acyl carrier protein transacylase

The microbial biosynthesis of free fatty acid, which can be used as precursors for the production of fuels or chemicals from renewable carbon sources, has attracted significant attention in recent years. Free fatty acids can be produced by introducing an acyl-carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE) gene into Escherichia coli. The first committed step of fatty acid biosynthesis is the conversion of acetyl-CoA to malonyl-CoA by an adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-dependent acetyl-CoA carboxylase followed by the conversion of malonyl-CoA to malonyl-ACP through the enzyme malonyl CoA-acyl carrier protein transacylase (MCT; FabD). The E. coli fabD gene encoding MCT has been cloned and studied. However, the effect of FabD overexpression in a fatty acid overproducing strain has not been examined. In this study, we examined the effect of FabD overexpression in a fatty acid overproducing strain carrying an acyl-ACP TE. Specifically, the effect of overexpressing a fabD gene from four different organisms on fatty acid production was compared. The strains carrying a fabD gene from E. coli, Streptomyces avermitilis MA-4680, or Streptomyces coelicolor A3(2) improved the free fatty acid production; these three strains produced more free fatty acids, about 11% more, than the control strain. The strain carrying a fabD gene from Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824, however, produced similar quantities of free fatty acids as the control strain. In addition, the three FabD overexpressed strains also have higher fatty acid/glucose yields. The results suggested that FabD overexpression can be used to improve free fatty acid production by increasing the malonyl-ACP availability.     

Feedback inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in tobacco suspension cells

The flux through many metabolic pathways is regulated through feedback inhibition on regulatory enzymes by endproducts of the pathway. Whether feedback inhibition occurs in fatty acid synthesis in plants has been investigated. The addition of exogenous oleic acid, in the form of oleoyl-Tween (Tween-18:1) caused a three- to fivefold decrease in the rate of [1-¹⁴C]acetate incorporation into tobacco suspension cell fatty acids. The decrease in acetate incorporation occurred rapidly upon addition of Tween-18:1 and appeared to be specific for fatty acid synthesis. In order to elucidate possible regulatory steps involved in the feedback regulation of fatty acid synthesis in plant cells, tobacco cell acyl-ACP intermediates were analyzed using a combination of [1-¹⁴C]acetate labeling and immunoblot analysis. Within 30 min of exogenous lipid addition, acetyl-ACP increased and long chain acyl-ACP decreased, whereas medium chain acyl-ACP levels remained constant. These acyl-ACP profiles observed during the feedback inhibition were those predicted to occur under conditions where the flux through fatty acid synthesis is decreased due to limiting levels of malonyl-CoA and therefore indicated that acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) was centrally involved in the feedback regulation of fatty acid synthesis. Immunoblot analysis showed that ACCase protein levels did not change during the feedback inhibition, indicating that the feedback inhibition of fatty acid synthesis in plant cells occurs through biochemical or post-translational modification of ACCase and possibly other fatty acid synthesis enzymes.     

Development of Escherichia coli MG1655 strains to produce long chain fatty acids by engineering fatty acid synthesis (FAS) metabolism

The goal of this research was to develop recombinant Escherichia coli to improve fatty acid synthesis (FAS). Genes encoding acetyl-CoA carboxylase (accA, accB, accC), malonyl-CoA-[acyl-carrier-protein] transacylase (fabD), and acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase (EC 3.1.2.14 gene), which are all enzymes that catalyze key steps in the synthesis of fatty acids, were cloned and over-expressed in E. coli MG1655. The acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) enzyme catalyzes the addition of CO₂ to acetyl-CoA to generate malonyl-CoA. The enzyme encoded by the fabD gene converts malonyl-CoA to malonyl-[acp], and the EC 3.1.2.14 gene converts fatty acyl-ACP chains to long chain fatty acids. All the genes except for the EC 3.1.2.14 gene were homologous to E. coli genes and were used to improve the enzymatic activities to over-express components of the FAS pathway through metabolic engineering. All recombinant E. coli MG1655 strains containing various gene combinations were developed using the pTrc99A expression vector. To observe changes in metabolism, the in vitro metabolites and fatty acids produced by the recombinants were analyzed. The fatty acids (C16) from recombinant strains were produced 1.23-2.41 times higher than that from the wild type.     

Borrowing genes from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii for free fatty acid production in engineered cyanobacteria

Photosynthetically derived fuels, such as those produced by microalgae, are touted as a future renewable energy source and a means for achieving energy independence. Realization of these claims, however, will require fuel production rates beyond the native capabilities of these microorganisms. The development of a metabolic engineering toolkit for microalgae will be key for reaching the production rates necessary for fuel production. This work advances the toolkit for cyanobacterial fuels by exploring the use of eukaryotic algal gene sources for free fatty acid biosynthesis rather than the traditional bacterial and plant sources. Many species of eukaryotic algae naturally accumulate high levels of triacylglycerol, a compound requiring three fatty acid side chains. Triacylglycerol accumulation implies that eukaryotic algae have naturally efficient enzymes for free fatty acid production, representing an unexplored resource for metabolic engineering targets. In this work, the model cyanobacterium, Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942, was engineered for free fatty acid production by targeting three main rate-limiting steps: (1) fatty acid release, catalyzed by a thioesterase, (2) fixation of carbon by ribulose-1,5-bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase, and (3) the first committed step in fatty acid biosynthesis, acetyl-CoA carboxylase. The recombinant acyl-ACP thioesterase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase were derived from the model green alga, Chlamydomonas reinhardtii CC-503. By targeting these proposed rate-determining steps, free fatty acid production was improved on a cell weight basis; however, the overall concentration of excreted free fatty acid did not increase. Recombinant gene expression was optimized by using native promoters, and while expression improved, the free fatty acid yield did not likewise increase. From physiological measurements, it was determined that free fatty acid production in S. elongatus PCC7942 is ultimately limited by the negative physiological effects associated with free fatty acid synthesis rather than bottlenecks within the metabolic pathway. This work demonstrates the successful expression of algal genes in a cyanobacterial host, but further improvement in free fatty acid yields will only be possible when the negative effects of free fatty acid production are mitigated.     

Inhibitors of fatty acid biosynthesis in sunflower seeds

During de novo fatty acid synthesis in sunflower seeds, saturated fatty acid production is influenced by the competition between the enzymes of the principal pathways and the saturated acyl-ACP thioesterases. Genetic backgrounds with more efficient saturated acyl-ACP thioesterase alleles only express their phenotypic effects when the alleles for the enzymes in the main pathway are less efficient. For this reason, we studied the incorporation of [2-(14)C]acetate into the lipids of developing sunflower seeds (Helianthus annuus L.) from several mutant lines in vivo. The labelling of different triacylglycerol fatty acids in different oilseed mutants reflects the fatty acid composition of the seed and supports the channelling theory of fatty acid biosynthesis. Incubation with methyl viologen diminished the conversion of stearoyl-ACP to oleoyl-ACP in vivo through a decrease in the available reductant power. In turn, this led to the accumulation of stearoyl-ACP to the levels detected in seeds from high stearic acid mutants. The concomitant reduction of oleoyl-ACP content inside the plastid allowed us to study the activity of acyl-ACP thioesterases on saturated fatty acids. In these mutants, we verified that the accumulation of saturated fatty acids requires efficient thioesterase activity on saturated-ACPs. By studying the effects of cerulenin on the in vivo incorporation of [2-(14)C]acetate into lipids and on the in vitro activity of beta-ketoacyl-ACP synthase II, we found that elongation to very long chain fatty acids can occur both inside and outside of the plastid in sunflower seeds.     

Free acetate production by rat hepatocytes during peroxisomal fatty acid and dicarboxylic acid oxidation

The fate of the acetyl-CoA units released during peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation was studied in isolated hepatocytes from normal and peroxisome-proliferated rats. Ketogenesis and hydrogen peroxide generation were employed as indicators of mitochondrial and peroxisomal fatty acid oxidation, respectively. Butyric and hexanoic acids were employed as mitochondrial substrates, 1, omega-dicarboxylic acids as predominantly peroxisomal substrates, and lauric acid as a substrate for both mitochondria and peroxisomes. Ketogenesis from dicarboxylic acids was either absent or very low in normal and peroxisome-proliferated hepatocytes, but free acetate release was detected at rates that could account for all the acetyl-CoA produced in peroxisomes by dicarboxylic and also by monocarboxylic acids. Mitochondrial fatty acid oxidation also led to free acetate generation but at low rates relative to ketogenesis. The origin of the acetate released was confirmed employing [1-14C]dodecanedioic acid. Thus, the activity of peroxisomes might contribute significantly to the free acetate generation known to occur during fatty acid oxidation in rats and possibly also in humans.     

FadD is required for utilization of endogenous fatty acids released from membrane lipids

FadD is an acyl coenzyme A (CoA) synthetase responsible for the activation of exogenous long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) into acyl-CoAs. Mutation of fadD in the symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium meliloti promotes swarming motility and leads to defects in nodulation of alfalfa plants. In this study, we found that S. meliloti fadD mutants accumulated a mixture of free fatty acids during the stationary phase of growth. The composition of the free fatty acid pool and the results obtained after specific labeling of esterified fatty acids with a Δ5-desaturase (Δ5-Des) were in agreement with membrane phospholipids being the origin of the released fatty acids. Escherichia coli fadD mutants also accumulated free fatty acids released from membrane lipids in the stationary phase. This phenomenon did not occur in a mutant of E. coli with a deficient FadL fatty acid transporter, suggesting that the accumulation of fatty acids in fadD mutants occurs inside the cell. Our results indicate that, besides the activation of exogenous LCFA, in bacteria FadD plays a major role in the activation of endogenous fatty acids released from membrane lipids. Furthermore, expression analysis performed with S. meliloti revealed that a functional FadD is required for the upregulation of genes involved in fatty acid degradation and suggested that in the wild-type strain, the fatty acids released from membrane lipids are degraded by β-oxidation in the stationary phase of growth.     

Functional role of fatty acyl-coenzyme A synthetase in the transmembrane movement and activation of exogenous long-chain fatty acids. Amino acid residues within the ATP/AMP signature motif of Escherichia coli FadD are required for enzyme activity and fatty acid transport

Fatty acyl-CoA synthetase (FACS, fatty acid:CoA ligase, AMP forming; EC ) plays a central role in intermediary metabolism by catalyzing the formation of fatty acyl-CoA. In Escherichia coli this enzyme, encoded by the fadD gene, is required for the coupled import and activation of exogenous long-chain fatty acids. The E. coli FACS (FadD) contains two sequence elements, which comprise the ATP/AMP signature motif ((213)YTGGTTGVAKGA(224) and (356)GYGLTE(361)) placing it in the superfamily of adenylate-forming enzymes. A series of site-directed mutations were generated in the fadD gene within the ATP/AMP signature motif site to evaluate the role of this conserved region to enzyme function and to fatty acid transport. This approach revealed two major classes of fadD mutants with depressed enzyme activity: 1) those with 25-45% wild type activity (fadD(G216A), fadD(T217A), fadD(G219A), and fadD(K222A)) and 2) those with 10% or less wild-type activity (fadD(Y213A), fadD(T214A), and fadD(E361A)). Using anti-FadD sera, Western blots demonstrated the different mutant forms of FadD that were present and had localization patterns equivalent to the wild type. The defect in the first class was attributed to a reduced catalytic efficiency although several mutant forms also had a reduced affinity for ATP. The mutations resulting in these biochemical phenotypes reduced or essentially eliminated the transport of exogenous long-chain fatty acids. These data support the hypothesis that the FACS FadD functions in the vectorial movement of exogenous fatty acids across the plasma membrane by acting as a metabolic trap, which results in the formation of acyl-CoA esters.     

Improvement of free fatty acid production in Escherichia coli using codon-optimized Streptococcus pyogenes acyl-ACP thioesterase

Fatty acyl–acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (acyl-ACP TE) from Streptococcus pyogenes (strain MGAS10270) was codon-optimized and expressed in Escherichia coli K-12 W3110 and Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. By employing codon-optimized S. pyogenes acyl-ACP TE to improve the total free fatty acids (FFAs) and to tailor the composition of FFAs, high-specificity production of saturated fatty acids (C12, C14) and unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1 C18:2) was achieved in recombinants. E. coli SGJS41 and SGJS46 (codon-optimized acyl-ACP TE of S. pyogenes) demonstrated the highest intracellular total FFA content (339 mg/l vs 342 mg/l); in particular, the content of C12 and C14 FFAs was about 3–5 fold, and the content of C18:1 and C18:2 FFAs was about 8–42 fold higher than that in the control E. coli and E. coli JES1017 (original acyl-ACP TE of S. pyogenes).     

Improvement of fatty acid biosynthesis by engineered recombinant Escherichia coli

The purpose of this research was to develop new strains of Escherichia coli with improved fatty acid biosynthesis. β-Ketoacyl acyl carrier protein synthase III (fabH) catalyzes the first step in the synthesis of fatty acids in parallel with acetyl-CoA carboxylase (accABC) and malonyl-CoA: acyl carrier protein transacylase (fabD) in Escherichia coli K-12 MG1655. The enzyme encoded by the fabH gene leads to an increase in the synthesis of short-chain-length fatty acids and a strong preference for acetyl-CoA, as it produces only straight chain fatty acids (SCFAs). It also seems to play a role in determining the type and composition of fatty acids produced. In this study, metabolically engineered strains of E. coli K-12 MG1655 containing fabH or accA::accBC::fabD or accA::accBC:: fabD::fabH gene-inserted expression vector (pTrc99A) were constructed. To observe the effects of overexpression, the production of malonic acid, a pathway intermediate, and fatty acids was analyzed. The resulting recombinant strains produced total lipids up to approximately 1.2 ～ 1.6 fold higher than that of wild-type E. coli. The production of hexadecanoic acid was especially enhanced up to approximately 4.8 fold in E. coli SGJS13 as compared to E. coli SGJS11.     

Protein interactions of fatty acid synthase II

We have used a yeast two-hybrid approach to detect direct protein interactions between fatty acid synthase components. Enoyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) reductase was found to interact with stearoyl-ACP desaturase and acyl-ACP thioesterase, but none of these proteins interacted with ACP in the yeast nucleus.     

Regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis by hydrocarbon substrates in Mycobacterium convolutum.

When Mycobacterium convolutum R22 was grown on the n-alkanes C13 through C16, the predominant fatty acids were of the same chain length as the growth substrate. Cells grown on C13 through C16 n-alkanes incorporated between 15 and 85 pmol of acetate per microgram of lipid into the fatty acids, whereas acetate- or propane-grown cells incorporated 280 and 255 pmol of acetate per microgram of lipid, respectively. In vivo experiments demonstrated that hexadecane, hexadecanoic acid, and hexadecanoylcoenzyme A (CoA) all inhibited de novo fatty acid synthesis. Hexadecanoyl-CoA was the most potent inhibitor. Hexadecane and hexadecanoic acid inhibited acetyl-CoA carboxylase by up to 37 and 39%, respectively, at 1 mM. Hexadecanoyl-CoA inhibited the enzyme activity by 65% at 50 micrometer. Cells that were grown on C14 through C16 n-alkanes had about 25 times less acetyl-CoA carboxylase activity than did cells grown on acetate or propane, suggesting repressed levels of the enzyme. Hexadecane- or pentadecane-grown cells were found to have 5 to 10 times more intracellular free fatty acid than cells grown on acetate, propane, or ethane.     

Transport of long-chain fatty acids in Escherichia coli. Evidence for role of fadL gene product as long-chain fatty acid receptor

Transport of long-chain fatty acids (LCFA) across the cytoplasmic membrane of Escherichia coli requires functional fadL and fadD genes. The fadD gene codes for an acyl-CoA synthetase (fatty acid: CoA ligase (AMP forming] which has broad chain length specificity and is loosely bound to the cytoplasmic membrane. The fadL gene codes for a 43,000-dalton cytoplasmic membrane protein which, acting by an unknown mechanism, is needed specifically for LCFA transport. As a first step to define the role of the fadL gene product, studies were performed to determine if it functions as a LCFA receptor. The LCFA-binding activity was quantitated in intact cells in the absence of LCFA transport by comparing the binding of LCFA in fadD fadL and fadD fadL+ strains. These studies revealed that (i) fadD fadL+ strains bind 6-fold more LCFA than fadD fadL strains; (ii) fadD fadL strains harboring a plasmid containing the fadL gene bind 16-fold more LCFA than fadD fadL strains harboring only the plasmid vector; and (iii) the fadL-specific LCFA-binding activity is regulated by the fadR gene and catabolite repression. Studies with fadL strains harboring fadL plasmids containing in vitro constructed deletions indicate that mutations which alter the physical properties of the 43,000-dalton fadL gene product also affect fadL gene product-specific LCFA-binding activity. Overall, these studies suggest that one role of the fadL gene product in the LCFA transport process is to sequester LCFA at sites in the cell membrane for transport.     

集胞藻PCC6803膜脂循环关键基因酶学性质和生理功能

集胞藻PCC6803野生型和其脂酰ACP合酶敲除突变株的自由脂肪酸含量和组成表明膜脂的重构和降解是细胞内自由脂肪酸的来源之一。在这一过程中脂肪酶起到关键性作用。通过基因组数据库检索,发现集胞藻PCC6803基因组中只有一个脂肪酶编码基因sll1969,但是还没有其功能相关的生化证据。为了确定该基因的功能及其在脂肪酸代谢途径中的作用,加深对集胞藻PCC6803脂肪酸代谢途径的了解,文中将sll1969基因在大肠杆菌中过表达和体外纯化,得到重组蛋白Sll1969,并对其酶学性质进行初步分析。在30℃条件下,测得Sll1969以对硝基苯丁酸酯作为底物时的Km和kcat值分别为(1.16±0.01)mmol/L和(332.8±10.0)/min;该脂肪酶的最适反应温度为55℃。通过比较分析sll1969突变株中脂肪酸含量和组成变化,发现sll1969的表达量与细胞自由脂肪酸的产量呈正相关,但Sll1969不是细胞中唯一的脂肪酶。