平台化学品短链支链脂肪酸和短链支链醇的微生物代谢工程

短链支链脂肪酸和短链支链醇均为重要的平台化学品,是合成多种高附加值产品的前体物质,市场需求巨大。目前两者的生产主要是利用基于石化原料的化学合成法。化学合成法存在着严重依赖化石燃料、反应效率低以及极易造成环境污染等缺点。微生物代谢工程的快速发展为这些平台化学品的生产提供了一条极具潜力的生物合成路线。利用微生物代谢工程技术构建生产这些平台化学品的微生物细胞工厂具有绿色清洁、可持续发展和经济效益好等独特优势。本文系统综述了近年来微生物代谢工程技术在短链支链脂肪酸和短链支链醇合成方面的研究进展,包括所涉及的宿主菌株、关键酶、代谢途径及其改造等,并探讨了未来的发展前景。

Advances in metabolic engineering for the microbial production of short branched-chain fatty acids and short branched-chain alcohols

Short branched-chain fatty acids and short branched-chain alcohols (SBCFAs and SBCAs, C4?6) serve as versatile platform chemicals for the chemical industry. They are commonly used as starting materials or building blocks to produce a wide range of valuable end products in chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries. Therefore, there is a huge demand for such platform chemicals in the global market. Currently, SBCFAs and SBCAs are predominantly produced through traditional chemical synthesis. However, these chemical conversion processes are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and always lead to serious environmental pollution. Moreover, the efficiency of these processes is often low. Recently, rapid developments in metabolic engineering of microbes provide a promising alternative to produce these platform chemicals. These bio-based manufacturing systems using microbial cell factories will help move the industrial production of SBCFAs and SBCAs towards more sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically competitive. Here, we reviewed the current status of metabolic engineering of microbes that produce SBCFAs and SBCAs including microbial hosts, key enzymes, metabolic pathways and engineering of SBCFA/SBCA biosynthesis. Furthermore, key challenges and future perspectives were discussed.