Genome sequences of two thermophilic Bacillus licheniformis strains, efficient producers of platform chemical 2,3-butanediol

Both Bacillus licheniformis strains 10-1-A and 5-2-D are efficient producers of 2,3-butanediol. Here we present 4.3-Mb and 4.2-Mb assemblies of their genomes. The key genes for the regulation and metabolism of 2,3-butanediol production were annotated, which may provide further insights into the molecular mechanism for the production of 2,3-butanediol with high yield and productivity.     

Microbial 2,3-butanediol production: a state-of-the-art review

2,3-Butanediol is a promising bulk chemical due to its extensive industry applications. The state-of-the-art nature of microbial 2,3-butanediol production is reviewed in this paper. Various strategies for efficient and economical microbial 2,3-butanediol production, including strain improvement, substrate alternation, and process development, are reviewed and compared with regard to their pros and cons. This review also summarizes value added derivatives of biologically produced 2,3-butanediol and different strategies for downstream processing. The future prospects of microbial 2,3-butanediol production are discussed in light of the current progress, challenges, and trends in this field. Guidelines for future studies are also proposed.     

Effect of deletion of 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase gene (bdhA) on acetoin production of Bacillus subtilis

The present work aims to block 2,3-butanediol synthesis in acetoin fermentation of Bacillus subtilis. First, we constructed a recombinant strain BS168D by deleting the 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase gene bdhA of the B. subtilis168, and there was almost no 2,3-butanediol production in 20?g/L of glucose media. The acetoin yield of BS168D reached 6.61?g/L, which was about 1.5 times higher than that of the control B. subtilis168 (4.47?g/L). Then, when the glucose concentration was increased to 100?g/L, the acetoin yield reached 24.6?g/L, but 2.4?g/L of 2,3-butanediol was detected at the end of fermentation. The analysis of 2,3-butanediol chiral structure indicated that the main 2,3-butanediol production of BS168D was meso-2,3-butanediol, and the bdhA gene was only responsible for (2R,3R)-2,3-butanediol synthesis. Therefore, we speculated that there may exit another pathway relating to the meso-2,3-butanediol synthesis in the B. subtilis. In addition, the results of low oxygen condition fermentation showed that deletion of bdhA gene successfully blocked the reversible transformation between acetoin and 2,3-butanediol and eliminated the effect of dissolved oxygen on the transformation.     

Enhanced production of 2,3-butanediol by engineered <Emphasis Type="Italic">Bacillus subtilis</Emphasis>

Production of 2,3-butanediol by Bacillus subtilis takes place in late-log or stationary phase, depending on the expression of bdhA gene encoding acetoin reductase, which converts acetoin to 2,3-butanediol. The present work focuses on the development of a strain of B. subtilis for enhanced production of 2,3-butanediol in early log phase of growth cycle. For this, the bdhA gene was expressed under the control of P _alsSD promoter of AlsSD operon for acetoin fermentation which served the substrate for 2,3-butanediol production. Addition of acetic acid in the medium induced the production of 2,3-butanediol by 2-fold. Two-step aerobic–anaerobic fermentation further enhanced 2,3-butanediol production by 4-fold in comparison to the control parental strain. Thus, addition of acetic acid and low dissolved oxygen in the medium are involved in activation of bdhA gene expression from P _alsSD promoter in early log phase. Under the conditions tested in this work, the maximum production of 2,3-butanediol, 2.1 g/l from 10 g/l glucose, was obtained at 24 h. Furthermore, under the optimized microaerophilic condition, the production of 2,3-butanediol improved up to 6.1 g/l and overall productivity increased by 6.7-fold to 0.4 g/l h in the engineered strain compared to that in the parental control.     

Production of 2,3-Butanediol from Sucrose by a <Emphasis Type="Italic">Klebsiella</Emphasis> Species

Chemical 2,3-butanediol is an important platform compound possessing diverse industrial applications. So far, it is mainly produced by using petrochemical feedstock which is associated with high cost and adverse environmental impacts. Hence, finding alternative routes (e.g., via fermentation using renewable carbon sources) to produce 2,3-butanediol are urgently needed. In this study, we report a wild-type Klebsiella sp. strain XRM21, which is capable of producing 2,3-butanediol from a wide variety of carbon sources including glucose, sucrose, xylose, and glycerol. Among them, fermentation of sucrose leads to the highest production of 2,3-butanediol. To maximize the production of 2,3-butanediol, fermentation conditions were first optimized for strain XMR21 by using response surface methodology (RSM) in batch reactors. Subsequently, a fed-batch fermentation strategy was designed based on the optimized parameters, where 91.2 g/L of 2,3-butanediol could be produced from substrate sucrose dosing in 100 g/L for three times. Moreover, random mutagenesis of stain XMR21 resulted in a highly productive mutant strain, capable of producing 119.4 and 22.5 g/L of 2,3-butanediol and ethanol under optimized fed-batch fermentation process within 65 h with a total productivity of 2.18 g/L/h, which is comparable to the reported highest 2,3-butanediol concentration produced by previous strains. This study provides a potential strategy to produce industrially important 2,3-butanediol from low-cost sucrose.     

D-2,3-butanediol production due to heterologous expression of an acetoin reductase in Clostridium acetobutylicum

Acetoin reductase (ACR) catalyzes the conversion of acetoin to 2,3-butanediol. Under certain conditions, Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 (and strains derived from it) generates both d- and l-stereoisomers of acetoin, but because of the absence of an ACR enzyme, it does not produce 2,3-butanediol. A gene encoding ACR from Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 8052 was functionally expressed in C. acetobutylicum under the control of two strong promoters, the constitutive thl promoter and the late exponential adc promoter. Both ACR-overproducing strains were grown in batch cultures, during which 89 to 90% of the natively produced acetoin was converted to 20 to 22 mM d-2,3-butanediol. The addition of a racemic mixture of acetoin led to the production of both d-2,3-butanediol and meso-2,3-butanediol. A metabolic network that is in agreement with the experimental data is proposed. Native 2,3-butanediol production is a first step toward a potential homofermentative 2-butanol-producing strain of C. acetobutylicum.     

Aqueous two-phase extraction of 2,3-butanediol from fermentation broths using an ethanol/phosphate system

Separation of 2,3-butanediol from the complex fermentation broths is a difficult task and becomes a bottleneck in industrial production. Aqueous two-phase systems composed of hydrophilic solvents and inorganic salts could be used to extract 2,3-butanediol from fermentation broths. Aqueous two-phase extraction of 2,3-butanediol from fermentation broths was studied by ethanol and dipotassium hydrogen phosphate system. The influences of phase composition on partition of 2,3-butanediol, removal of cells and biomacromolecules were investigated. The partition coefficient and recovery of 2,3-butanediol reached up to 28.34 and 98.13%, respectively, and the selective coefficient of 2,3-butanediol to glucose was 615.87 when the system was composed of 24% (w/w) ethanol and 25% (w/w) dipotassium hydrogen phosphate. Simultaneously, cells and proteins could be removed from the fermentation broths and the removal ratio reached 99.63 and 85.9%, respectively. This process is convenient and economic, furthermore, the operation is easy to scale-up, that is, this method provides a new possibility for the separation and refining of 2,3-butanediol.     

Engineered <Emphasis Type="Italic">E. coli</Emphasis> W enables efficient 2,3-butanediol production from glucose and sugar beet molasses using defined minimal medium as economic basis

Background

Efficient microbial production of chemicals is often hindered by the cytotoxicity of the products or by the pathogenicity of the host strains. Hence 2,3-butanediol, an important drop-in chemical, is an interesting alternative target molecule for microbial synthesis since it is non-cytotoxic. Metabolic engineering of non-pathogenic and industrially relevant microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli, have already yielded in promising 2,3-butanediol titers showing the potential of microbial synthesis of 2,3-butanediol. However, current microbial 2,3-butanediol production processes often rely on yeast extract as expensive additive, rendering these processes infeasible for industrial production.

Results

The aim of this study was to develop an efficient 2,3-butanediol production process with E. coli operating on the premise of using cost-effective medium without complex supplements, considering second generation feedstocks. Different gene donors and promoter fine-tuning allowed for construction of a potent E. coli strain for the production of 2,3-butanediol as important drop-in chemical. Pulsed fed-batch cultivations of E. coli W using microaerobic conditions showed high diol productivity of 4.5 g l^?1 h^?1. Optimizing oxygen supply and elimination of acetoin and by-product formation improved the 2,3-butanediol titer to 68 g l^?1, 76% of the theoretical maximum yield, however, at the expense of productivity. Sugar beet molasses was tested as a potential substrate for industrial production of chemicals. Pulsed fed-batch cultivations produced 56 g l^?1 2,3-butanediol, underlining the great potential of E. coli W as production organism for high value-added chemicals.

Conclusion

A potent 2,3-butanediol producing E. coli strain was generated by considering promoter fine-tuning to balance cell fitness and production capacity. For the first time, 2,3-butanediol production was achieved with promising titer, rate and yield and no acetoin formation from glucose in pulsed fed-batch cultivations using chemically defined medium without complex hydrolysates. Furthermore, versatility of E. coli W as production host was demonstrated by efficiently converting sucrose from sugar beet molasses into 2,3-butanediol.

     

不同有机酸对粘质沙雷氏菌合成2,3-丁二醇的影响

考察了不同的短链有机酸对粘质沙雷氏菌合成2,3－丁二醇的影响,结果表明乙酸、乳酸、丙酮酸、琥珀酸、延胡索酸和柠檬酸均能在一定程度上提高2,3－丁二醇的产量,其中乙酸的效果最为明显,在基础培养基中添加6g／L乙酸,与对照相比,2,3．丁二醇的产量提高了91．06％,此外菌体干重也提高了58．28％。为了揭示其中的调控机制,构建了启动子：lacZ融合报告载体,fncz活性测定显示六种有机酸均可提高报告基因B．半乳糖苷酶的表达,其中乙酸可提高B．半乳糖苷酶活性近4倍,暗示六种有机酸促进2,3－丁二醇的合成可能与诱导该合成途径相关基因的表达有关。     

粘质沙雷氏菌产2,3-丁二醇培养基的优化

研究了各种碳源、氮源、柠檬酸及无机盐对细胞生长与产物形成的影响,通过单因子、正交及中心组合设计响应面分析优化发酵培养基。结果表明在培养基中添加柠檬酸不但可以促进细胞生长与糖耗速度,还可以缩短发酵周期,提高2,3-丁二醇的产量。采用优化后的培养基,2,3-丁二醇的产量由14.03g/L增加到39.27g/L,提高了近3倍。     

产酸克雷伯氏杆菌发酵产2，3-丁二醇的培养基优化

采用不同设计方法相结合的策略对耐高糖产酸克雷伯氏杆菌（Klebsiella oxytoca）ME—UD-3-4发酵产2,3-丁二醇的培养基进行优化。首先在单因素实验的基础上采用Plackett—Burrnan设计法对影响ME—UD-3-4发酵产2,3-丁二醇的相关因素进行研究,筛选到3种有显著效应的因素（P〈0．05）：葡萄糖、玉米浆和MgSO4·7H2O。然后利用响应曲面法（Response Surface Methodology,RSM）对这3种因素的最佳水平范围进一步探讨;对得到的回归模型进行分析,得最佳条件（g／L）：葡萄糖220、玉米浆19和MgSO4·7H2O 0．4;在最佳条件下,发酵80h,2,3-丁二醇产量从原来的57．3 g／L提高到86．1 g／L,生产强度由0．72g／（L·h）提高到1．08g/（L·h）。     

2,3-Butanediol production from glucose by Klebsiella pneumoniae in a cell recycle system

Kinetics of 2,3-butanediol production by Klebsiella pneumoniae from glucose was studied in a cell recycle system with total recycle of biomass. Under these conditions productivity greater than batch or continuous system were obtained. However, when the cell concentration in the bioreactor built up to 40 g l⁻¹, the production of 2,3-butanediol started decreasing. The coefficient of mass transfer for oxygen decreased significantly and the viscosity increased rapidly after this cell concentration was reached. The increase in viscosity was partially due to production of polysaccharides. This appears at high cell concentration, due to severe oxygen limitation, when the organism may switch from 2,3-butanediol to polysaccharide production.     

Microbial production of 2,3-butanediol from Jerusalem artichoke tubers by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Klebsiella pneumoniae</Emphasis>

2,3-Butanediol is one of the promising bulk chemicals with wide applications. Its fermentative production has attracted great interest due to the high end concentration. However, large-scale production of 2,3-butanediol requires low-cost substrate and efficient fermentation process. In the present study, 2,3-butanediol production by Klebsiella pneumoniae from Jerusalem artichoke tubers was successfully performed, and various technologies, including separate hydrolysis and fermentation (SHF) and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), were investigated. The concentration of target products reached 81.59 and 91.63 g/l, respectively after 40 h in batch and fed-batch SSF processes. Comparing with fed-batch SHF, the fed-batch SSF provided 30.3% higher concentration and 83.2% higher productivity of target products. The results showed that Jerusalem artichoke tuber is a favorable substrate for 2,3-butanediol production, and the application of fed-batch SSF for its conversion can result in a more cost-effective process.     

Assay of physiological levels of 2,3-butanediol diastereomers in blood and urine by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

We present an assay for 2,3-butanediol by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry of its trimethylsilyl ethers. 2R,3R- and/or 2S,3S-2,3-butanediol and meso-2,3-butanediol are quantitated with corresponding internal standards of [2,3-2H2]butanediol. Limits of detection are 1 and 0.1 microM for split and splitless injections, respectively. Blood concentrations of 2,3-butanediol in nonalcoholics are 0.5 +/- 0.3 (SD) microM for 2R,3R- and/or 2S,3S-2,3-butanediol and 0.8 +/- 0.4 microM for meso-2,3-butanediol (n = 9). Two hours after alcohol ingestion, blood levels had risen in eight of nine subjects to 1.2 +/- 0.7 microM for 2R,3R-/2S,3S-2,3-butanediol and to 1.2 +/- 0.6 microM for meso-2,3-butanediol. Baseline urinary excretion of 2,3-butanediol is 0.4 +/- 0.2 mumol/mmol creatinine for 2R,3R-/2S,3S-2,3-butanediol and 0.9 +/- 0.5 mumol/mmol creatinine for meso-2,3-butanediol.     

A model for multiproduct-inhibited growth of Enterobacter aerogenes in 2,3-butanediol fermentation

Summary Ethanol is identified as a strongly inhibitory metabolite in addition to acetic acid and 2,3-butanediol in 2,3-butanediol production by Enterobacter aerogenes. A model is proposed to describe the multiproduct-inhibited growth of E. aerogenes in 2,3-butanediol fermentation. The model is verified with data from anaerobic and microaerobic continuous culture. On the basis of this model the difference in biomass production and product patterns during anaerobic and microaerobic growth of E. aerogenes is discussed. Offprint requests to: W.-D. Deckwer     

乙酸、糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛对产酸克雷伯氏菌发酵生产2,3-丁二醇的影响

为了解产酸克雷伯氏菌对木质纤维素水解液中主要抑制物的耐受和代谢,考察了产酸克雷伯氏菌发酵生产2,3-丁二醇(2,3-butanediol,2,3-BDO)过程中对3种发酵抑制物乙酸、糠醛和5-羟甲基糠醛(5-hydroxymethylfurfural HMF)的耐受以及抑制物浓度的变化,检测了糠醛和HMF的代谢产物.结果表明:产酸克雷伯氏菌对乙酸、糠醛和HMF的耐受浓度分别为30 g/L、4 g/L和5 g/L.并且部分乙酸可作为生产2,3-丁二醇的底物,在0～30 g/L浓度范围内可提高2,3-丁二醇的产量.发酵过程中产酸克雷伯氏菌可将HMF和糠醛全部转化,其中约70％HMF被转化为2,5-呋喃二甲醇,30％HMF和全部糠醛被菌体代谢.研究表明在木质纤维素水解液生产2,3-丁二醇的脱毒过程中可优先考虑脱除糠醛,一定浓度的乙酸可以不用脱除.     

Biovalorization of saccharides derived from industrial wastes such as whey: a review

Whey is a liquid waste issued from the transformation of milk into cheese. Whey is a major environmental problem for the dairy industry due to its high organic load, linked to its high content of lactose. It can be valorized by biological processes based on lactose fermentation into different products such as (1) lactic acid (as food additive), (2) 2,3-butanediol (as feedstock to get products such as methyl-ethyl-ketone or 2-butene for the pharmaceutical and chemical industries), (3) biogas (to obtain energy). The production of 2,3-butanediol from saccharides, such as glucose, has been actively studied over previous decades using several types of microorganisms such as Enterobacter aerogenes, Paenibacillus polymyxa, Klebsiella sp., Serratia marcescens and Escherichia coli. Some of these have even been genetically modified to improve the 2,3-butanediol production. The potential whey fermentation process into 2,3-butanediol depends on several operating conditions such as microorganisms, composition of the culture medium, temperature, pH and aeration. This review first presents a summary of the situation of milk and cheese production in Canada and around the world. It also describes the different kinds of whey and their treatment techniques. Finally, this paper describes the production of 2,3-butanediol from saccharides by various microorganisms under different operating conditions.     

Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for 2,3-butanediol production

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology - Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a work horse for production of valuable biofuels and biochemicals including 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO), a platform chemical with...     

Reconstruction of an Acetogenic 2,3-Butanediol Pathway Involving a Novel NADPH-Dependent Primary-Secondary Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Acetogenic bacteria use CO and/or CO₂ plus H₂ as their sole carbon and energy sources. Fermentation processes with these organisms hold promise for producing chemicals and biofuels from abundant waste gas feedstocks while simultaneously reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The acetogen Clostridium autoethanogenum is known to synthesize the pyruvate-derived metabolites lactate and 2,3-butanediol during gas fermentation. Industrially, 2,3-butanediol is valuable for chemical production. Here we identify and characterize the C. autoethanogenum enzymes for lactate and 2,3-butanediol biosynthesis. The putative C. autoethanogenum lactate dehydrogenase was active when expressed in Escherichia coli. The 2,3-butanediol pathway was reconstituted in E. coli by cloning and expressing the candidate genes for acetolactate synthase, acetolactate decarboxylase, and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase. Under anaerobic conditions, the resulting E. coli strain produced 1.1 ± 0.2 mM 2R,3R-butanediol (23 μM h⁻¹ optical density unit⁻¹), which is comparable to the level produced by C. autoethanogenum during growth on CO-containing waste gases. In addition to the 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase, we identified a strictly NADPH-dependent primary-secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (CaADH) that could reduce acetoin to 2,3-butanediol. Detailed kinetic analysis revealed that CaADH accepts a range of 2-, 3-, and 4-carbon substrates, including the nonphysiological ketones acetone and butanone. The high activity of CaADH toward acetone led us to predict, and confirm experimentally, that C. autoethanogenum can act as a whole-cell biocatalyst for converting exogenous acetone to isopropanol. Together, our results functionally validate the 2,3-butanediol pathway from C. autoethanogenum, identify CaADH as a target for further engineering, and demonstrate the potential of C. autoethanogenum as a platform for sustainable chemical production.