甲酸生物利用的研究进展

利用微生物细胞工厂实现高效的原料利用和目标物质合成是合成生物学的重要研究方向之一。传统工业微生物主要以糖基类原料作为发酵底物,而发掘更为廉价的碳资源并实现其高效利用,值得探究。甲酸是重要的有机一碳资源,亦是基本有机化工原料之一,广泛应用于农药、皮革、染料、医药和橡胶等工业。近年来受产业需求波动的影响,甲酸生产面临产能过剩的困境,亟待发展新的转化路径来拓展和延伸相关产业链,而生物路线是重要方向之一。然而,天然的甲酸利用微生物普遍存在生长缓慢、甲酸代谢效率低以及分子工具匮乏造成遗传改造困难等问题,亟待改造和优化;而人工构建甲酸利用微生物的研究尚处于起始阶段,存在极大的发展空间,值得关注。文中对近年来甲酸生物利用的研究进展进行了梳理和总结,并对今后的研究重点和方向提出建议。

Progress in biological utilization of formic acid

The use of microbial cell factories to achieve efficient conversion of raw materials and synthesis of target substances is one of the important research directions of synthetic biology. Traditional industrial microorganisms have mainly used sugar-based raw materials as fermentation substrates. How to adopt cheaper carbon resources and realize their efficient use has been widely concerned. Formic acid is an important organic one-carbon source and widely used in industrial manufacturing of pesticides, leather, dyes, medicine and rubber. In recent years, due to the demand fluctuation in downstream industries, formic acid production is facing the dilemma of overcapacity, and therefore, requiring new conversion paths for expansion and extension of the related industrial chain. Biological route is one of the important options. However, natural formate-utilizing microorganisms generally grow slowly when metabolizing formic acid, and moreover, are difficult to be artificially modified by the absence of effective genetic tools. Construction of non-natural formate-utilizing microorganisms is another alternative strategy, but still in its infancy and has a huge space for further improvements. Here, we briefly summarize the recent research progress of biological utilization of formic acid, and also propose the future research focus and direction.