Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from glucose and xylose

3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is a promising platform chemical which can be used for the production of various value-added chemicals. In this study,Corynebacterium glutamicum was metabolically engineered to efficiently produce 3-HP from glucose and xylose via the glycerol pathway. A functional 3-HP synthesis pathway was engineered through a combination of genes involved in glycerol synthesis (fusion of gpd and gpp from Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and 3-HP production (pduCDEGH from Klebsiella pneumoniae and aldehyde dehydrogenases from various resources). High 3-HP yield was achieved by screening of active aldehyde dehydrogenases and by minimizing byproduct synthesis (gapA^A1GΔldhAΔpta-ackAΔpoxBΔglpK). Substitution of phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent glucose uptake system (PTS) by inositol permeases (iolT1) and glucokinase (glk) further increased 3-HP production to 38.6 g/L, with the yield of 0.48 g/g glucose. To broaden its substrate spectrum, the engineered strain was modified to incorporate the pentose transport gene araE and xylose catabolic gene xylAB, allowing for the simultaneous utilization of glucose and xylose. Combination of these genetic manipulations resulted in an engineered C. glutamicum strain capable of producing 62.6 g/L 3-HP at a yield of 0.51 g/g glucose in fed-batch fermentation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest titer and yield of 3-HP from sugar. This is also the first report for the production of 3-HP from xylose, opening the way toward 3-HP production from abundant lignocellulosic feedstocks.     

谷氨酸棒杆菌生产琥珀酸的代谢工程研究进展

琥珀酸是一种具有重要应用价值的四碳平台化合物。微生物法发酵生产琥珀酸以其社会、环境和经济优势展现出良好的发展前景。谷氨酸棒杆菌被广泛应用于氨基酸、核苷酸等高附加值化学品的工业化生产,在厌氧条件下细胞处于生长停滞状态,但仍能高效利用碳源合成有机酸,通过代谢工程改造的谷氨酸棒杆菌有望成为理想的琥珀酸生产菌株。结合近年来谷氨酸棒杆菌生产琥珀酸取得的最新成果,本文综述了构建高产琥珀酸工程菌株的代谢工程策略、底物的扩展利用,并展望了将来的研究方向。     

Mixed glucose and lactate uptake by Corynebacterium glutamicum through metabolic engineering

The Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13032 lysC(fbr) strain was engineered to grow fast on racemic mixtures of lactate and to secrete lysine during growth on lactate as well as on mixtures of lactate and glucose. The wild-type C. glutamicum only grows well on L-lactate. Overexpression of D-lactate dehydrogenase (dld) achieved by exchanging the native promoter of the dld gene for the stronger promoter of the sod gene encoding superoxide dismutase in C. glutamicum resulted in a duplication of biomass yield and faster growth without any secretion of lysine. Elementary mode analysis was applied to identify potential targets for lysine production from lactate as well as from mixtures of lactate and glucose. Two targets for overexpression were pyruvate carboxylase and malic enzyme. The overexpression of these genes using again the sod promoter resulted in growth-associated production of lysine with lactate as sole carbon source with a carbon yield of 9% and a yield of 15% during growth on a lactate-glucose mixture. Both substrates were taken up simultaneously with a slight preference for lactate. As surmised from the elementary mode analysis, deletion of glucose-6-phosphate isomerase resulted in a decreased production of lysine on the mixed substrate. Elementary mode analysis together with suitable objective functions has been found a very useful tool guiding the design of strains producing lysine on mixed substrates.     

Systems metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum eliminates all by-products for selective and high-yield production of the platform chemical 5-aminovalerate

5-aminovalerate (AVA) is a platform chemical of substantial commercial value to derive nylon-5 and five-carbon derivatives like δ-valerolactam, 1,5-pentanediol, glutarate, and 5-hydroxyvalerate. De novo bio-production synthesis of AVA using metabolically engineered cell factories is regarded as exemplary route to provide this chemical in a sustainable way. So far, this route is limited by low titers, rates and yields and suffers from high levels of by-products. To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel family of AVA producing C. glutamicum cell factories. Stepwise optimization included (i) improved AVA biosynthesis by expression balancing of the heterologous davBA genes from P. putida, (ii) reduced formation of the by-product glutarate by disruption of the catabolic y-aminobutyrate pathway (iii), increased AVA export, and (iv) reduced AVA re-import via native and heterologous transporters to account for the accumulation of intracellular AVA up to 300 mM. Strain C. glutamicum AVA-5A, obtained after several optimization rounds, produced 48.3 g L⁻¹ AVA in a fed-batch process and achieved a high yield of 0.21 g g⁻¹. Surprisingly in later stages, the mutant suddenly accumulated glutarate to an extent equivalent to 30% of the amount of AVA formed, tenfold more than in the early process, displaying a severe drawback toward industrial production. Further exploration led to the discovery that ArgD, naturally aminating N-acetyl-l-ornithine during l-arginine biosynthesis, exhibits deaminating side activity on AVA towards glutarate formation. This promiscuity became relevant because of the high intracellular AVA level and the fact that ArgD became unoccupied with the gradually stronger switch-off of anabolism during production. Glutarate formation was favorably abolished in the advanced strains AVA-6A, AVA-6B, and AVA-7, all lacking argD. In a fed-batch process, C. glutamicum AVA-7 produced 46.5 g L⁻¹ AVA at a yield of 0.34 g g⁻¹ and a maximum productivity of 1.52 g L⁻¹ h⁻¹, outperforming all previously reported efforts and stetting a milestone toward industrial manufacturing of AVA. Notably, the novel cell factories are fully genome-based, offering high genetic stability and requiring no selection markers     

Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for production of 1,5-diaminopentane from hemicellulose

In the present work, the bio-based production of 1,5-diaminopentane (cadaverine), an important building block for bio-polyamides, was extended to hemicellulose a non-food raw material. For this purpose, the metabolism of 1,5-diaminopentane-producing Corynebacterium glutamicum was engineered to the use of the C(5) sugar xylose. This was realized by heterologous expression of the xylA and xylB genes from Escherichia coli, mediating the conversion of xylose into xylulose 5-phosphate (an intermediate of the pentose phosphate pathway), in a defined diaminopentane-producing C. glutamicum strain, recently obtained by systems metabolic engineering. The created mutant, C. glutamicum DAP-Xyl1, exhibited efficient production of the diamine from xylose and from mixtures of xylose and glucose. Subsequently, the novel strain was tested on industrially relevant hemicellulose fractions, mainly containing xylose and glucose as carbon source. A two-step process was developed, comprising (i) enzymatic hydrolysis of hemicellulose from dried oat spelts, and (ii) biotechnological 1,5-diaminopentane production from the obtained hydrolysates with the novel C. glutamicum strain. This now opens a future avenue towards bio-based 1,5-diaminopentane and bio-polyamides thereof from non-food raw materials.     

Debottlenecking the 1,3-propanediol pathway by metabolic engineering

The history of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) conversion from being a specialty chemical to being a bulk chemical illustrates that the concerted effort of different metabolic engineering approaches brings the most successful results. In order to metabolically tailor the 1,3-PD production pathway multiple strategies have been pursued. Knocking-out genes responsible for by-products formation, intergeneric transfer and overexpression of the genes directly involved in the pathway, manipulation with internal redox balance, introduction of a synthetic flux control point, and modification of the substrate mechanism of transport are some of the strategies applied. The metabolic engineering of the microbial 1,3-PD production exploits both native producers and microorganisms with acquired ability to produce the diol via genetic manipulations. Combination of the appropriate genes from homologous and heterologous hosts is expected to bring a desired objective of production of 1,3-PD cheaply, efficiently and independently from non-renewable resources. The state-of-the-art of the 1,3-PD pathway metabolic engineering is reviewed in this paper.     

Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for production of sunscreen shinorine

Ultraviolet-absorbing chemicals are useful in cosmetics and skin care to prevent UV-induced skin damage. We demonstrate here that heterologous production of shinorine, which shows broad absorption maxima in the UV-A and UV-B region. A shinorine producing Corynebacterium glutamicum strain was constructed by expressing four genes from Actinosynnema mirum DSM 43827, which are responsible for the biosynthesis of shinorine from sedoheptulose-7-phosphate in the pentose phosphate pathway. Deletion of transaldolase encoding gene improved shinorine production by 5.2-fold. Among the other genes in pentose phosphate pathway, overexpression of 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase encoding gene further increased shinorine production by 60% (19.1 mg/L). The genetic engineering of the pentose phosphate pathway in C. glutamicum improved shinorine production by 8.3-fold in total, and could be applied to produce the other chemicals derived from sedoheptulose-7-phosphate.     

Integrated production for biodiesel and 1,3-propanediol with lipase-catalyzed transesterification and fermentation

Biodiesel, a renewable alternative to fossil energy, has shown great prospects for global proliferation in the past decade. Lipase catalyzed transesterification for biodiesel production, as a biological process with many advantages has drawn increasing attention. As a by-product, glycerol accounts for about 10% w/w of biodiesel during the process of biodiesel production. As a result, the conversion of glycerol has become a common problem which has to be resolved if considering large amount of biodiesel production. Glycerol can be fermented into 1,3-propanediol, a high value added chemical with a promising future in the polymers, for example, polytrimethylene terephthalate, and also fermentation approaches for 1,3-propanediol production which have drawn more and more attention due to advantages such as relatively low investment, mild reaction conditions and using renewable sources as the starting materials. Based on the latest technology advancements in lipase-mediated transformation for biodiesel production, the aerobic fermentation technology and genetic engineering for 1,3-propanediol production, and the integrated production of 1,3-propanediol from crude glycerol could be a promising way to improve the profit of the whole process during biodiesel production.     

Microbial production of 1,3-propanediol: Recent developments and emerging opportunities

1,3-Propanediol, a valuable bifunctional molecule, can be produced from renewable resources using microorganisms. It has several promising properties for many synthetic reactions, particularly for polymer and cosmetic industries. By virtue of being a natural product, relevant biochemical pathways can be harnessed into fermentation processes to produce 1,3-propanediol. Various strategies for the microbial production of 1,3-propanediol are reviewed and compared in this article with their promises and constraints. Furthermore, genetic and metabolic engineering could significantly improve product yields and overcome the limitations of fermentation technology. Present review gives an overview on 1,3-propanediol production by wild and recombinant strains. It also attempts to encompass the various issues concerned in utilization of crude glycerol for 1,3-propanediol production, with particular emphasis laid on biodiesel industries. This review also summarizes the present state of strategies studied for the downstream processing and purification of biologically produced 1,3-propanediol. The future prospect of 1,3-propanediol and its potential as a major bulk chemical are discussed under the light of the current research.     

Cyanobacterial production of 1,3-propanediol directly from carbon dioxide using a synthetic metabolic pathway

Production of chemicals directly from carbon dioxide using light energy is an attractive option for a sustainable future. The 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) production directly from carbon dioxide was achieved by engineered Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942 with a synthetic metabolic pathway. Glycerol dehydratase catalyzing the conversion of glycerol to 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde in a coenzyme B₁₂-dependent manner worked in S. elongatus PCC 7942 without addition of vitamin B₁₂, suggesting that the intrinsic pseudovitamin B₁₂ served as a substitute of coenzyme B₁₂. The highest titers of 1,3-PDO (3.79±0.23 mM; 288±17.7 mg/L) and glycerol (12.62±1.55 mM; 1.16±0.14 g/L), precursor of 1,3-PDO, were reached after 14 days of culture under optimized conditions in this study.     

Coordination of metabolic pathways: Enhanced carbon conservation in 1,3-propanediol production by coupling with optically pure lactate biosynthesis

Metabolic engineering has emerged as a powerful tool for bioproduction of both fine and bulk chemicals. The natural coordination among different metabolic pathways contributes to the complexity of metabolic modification, which hampers the development of biorefineries. Herein, the coordination between the oxidative and reductive branches of glycerol metabolism was rearranged in Klebsiella oxytoca to improve the 1,3-propanediol production. After deliberating on the product value, carbon conservation, redox balance, biological compatibility and downstream processing, the lactate-producing pathway was chosen for coupling with the 1,3-propanediol-producing pathway. Then, the other pathways of 2,3-butanediol, ethanol, acetate, and succinate were blocked in sequence, leading to improved d-lactate biosynthesis, which as return drove the 1,3-propanediol production. Meanwhile, efficient co-production of 1,3-propanediol and l-lactate was also achieved by replacing ldhD with ldhL from Bacillus coagulans. The engineered strains PDL-5 and PLL co-produced over 70 g/L 1,3-propanediol and over 100 g/L optically pure d-lactate and l-lactate, respectively, with high conversion yields of over 0.95 mol/mol from glycerol.     

Microbial production of 1,3-propanediol by Klebsiella pneumoniae using crude glycerol from biodiesel preparations

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PD) was produced by Klebsiella pneumoniae using crude glycerol obtained from biodiesel production. The 1,3-PD concentration of 51.3 g/l⁻¹ on crude glycerol from alkali-catalyzed methanolysis of soybean oil was comparable to that of 53 g/l⁻¹ on crude glycerol derived from a lipase-catalyzed process. The productivities of 1.7 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on crude glycerol were comparable to that of 2 g l⁻¹ h⁻¹ on pure glycerol. It could be concluded that the crude glycerol could be directly converted to 1,3-PD without any prior purification.     

谷氨酸棒杆菌的代谢工程使能技术研究进展

谷氨酸棒杆菌Corynebacterium glutamicum是重要的工业微生物,尤其是在氨基酸工业中,每年用于600余万t氨基酸的生物制造。近年来,谷氨酸棒杆菌代谢工程使能技术正在不断完善,不仅加快了细胞工厂的创建和优化,拓展了底物谱和产物谱,也推动了谷氨酸棒杆菌的基础研究,使谷氨酸棒杆菌成为代谢工程的理想底盘细胞。文中综述了近期针对谷氨酸棒杆菌开发的代谢工程使能技术,着重介绍了基于CRISPR的基因组编辑、基因表达调控、适应性进化和生物传感器等技术的开发和应用。     

代谢工程改造谷氨酸棒状杆菌合成及分泌途径生产L-缬氨酸

谷氨酸棒状杆菌是目前微生物发酵生产L-缬氨酸的主要工业菌株。文中首先在谷氨酸棒状杆菌VWB-1中敲除了alaT (丙氨酸氨基转移酶),获得突变菌株VWB-2,作为出发菌株。进而对L-缬氨酸合成途径关键酶——乙酰羟酸合酶 (ilvBN) 的调节亚基进行定点突变 (ilvBN1M13),解除L-缬氨酸对该酶的反馈抑制。然后辅助过量表达L-缬氨酸合成途径关键基因ilvBN1M13、乙酰羟酸异构酶 (ilvC)、二羟酸脱水酶 (ilvD)、支链氨基酸氨基转移酶 (ilvE),加强通往L-缬氨酸的碳代谢流,提高菌株的L-缬氨酸水平。最后,基于过量表达L-缬氨酸转运蛋白编码基因brnFE及其调控蛋白编码基因lrp1,提高细胞的L-缬氨酸转运能力。最终获得工程菌株VWB-2/pEC-XK99E-ilvBN1M13CE-lrp1-brnFE在5 L发酵罐中的L-缬氨酸产量达到461.4 mmol/L,糖酸转化率达到0.312 g/g葡萄糖。