维生素C前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸二步混菌发酵研究新进展

维生素C（Vc）二步混菌发酵是我国首创具有自主知识产权的唯一应用于工业化生产Vc的微生物转化方法,该方法利用混合菌发酵L-山梨糖生产Vc前体物质-2-酮基-L-古龙酸,再经化学转化合成Vc;具有简化工艺,减少污染,降低能耗等优点。本文主要从产酸菌代谢关键酶、伴生菌胞外物质、组学以及外源添加物等方面综述Vc二步混菌发酵的最新研究进展,并提出进一步研究和探索的方向。     

高渗条件下利用蔗糖提升2-酮基-L-古龙酸生产效率

旨在进一步提升维生素C前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸(2-KLG)的生产效率。在详细考察了2-KLG工业化生产过程中渗透压变化规律的基础上,研究了高渗对混合菌系细胞生长和2-KLG合成的影响,提出蔗糖促进伴生菌巨大芽胞杆菌Bacillus megaterium生长,进而促进普通生酮古龙酸菌Ketogulonigenium vulgare生长和产酸的策略。结果表明,2-KLG的积累和碱性物质的流加使渗透压上升了832mOsmol/kg;高渗抑制了巨大芽胞杆菌的生长(15.4%),从而抑制普通生酮古龙酸菌(31.7%)的生长,导致2-KLG产量和生产强度分别下降67.5%和69.3%(以1250mOsmol/kg为例);蔗糖的添加则显著促进巨大芽胞杆菌的生长,使高渗条件下(摇瓶,1250 mOsmol/kg)2-KLG产量(40.6g/L)提高87%;在3L发酵罐中,补加10mmol/L蔗糖使2-KLG发酵周期缩短10.8%,2-KLG生产强度提高10.4%。研究成果为在环境胁迫下提高混菌生产目标代谢产物的产量提供了潜在的策略。     

D-葡萄糖串联发酵产生维生素C前体—2-酮基-L-古龙酸——Ⅱ.菌株SCB3058产生2-酮基-L-古龙酸发酵条件的研究

维生素C(Vitamin C,简称Vc),又称L-抗坏血酸(L-Ascorbic acid)是人体必需的维生素,生理作用广泛,在医药和食品工业上均有重要地位。目前国内厂家多以我国发明的“二步发酵法”进行生产,即以D-山梨醇为原料生产2-酮基-L-古龙酸(以下简称2-KLG),然后制备维生素C。而近年来引起国内外普遍关注的是从D-葡萄糖串联发酵生产2-KLG的新工艺,以及采用基因工程技术,构建直接由D-葡萄糖转化生成2-KLG的基因工程菌的研究(图1)。1987年以来我国学者尹光琳等人采用了欧文氏菌(Erwinia sp.)和棒状杆菌(Corynebacterium sp.)进行串联发酵产生维生素C前体——2-酮基-L-古龙酸,并开展了一系列的研究。     

混合菌发酵L-山梨糖生产Vc前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸研究进展

利用混合菌发酵L-山梨糖生产2-酮基-L-古龙酸(2-KCA),再经化学转化合成维生素C(Vc),是我国工业生产Vc的主要途径,具有简化工艺,减少污染,降低能耗等诸多优点.从菌系组合、菌种选育、代谢途径与酶学特性、工程菌构建、伴生作用机制及发酵工艺等方面出发,综述混合菌发酵L-山梨糖生产Vc前体2-KGA的研究现状和最新进展,并提出进一步研究和探索的方向.     

维生素C生物转化的代谢工程研究

本从代谢工程角度出发,综述维生素C(Vc)生物转化代谢研究进展。分别论述了3条产生Vc重要前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸(2-KLG)反应路线的代谢机制、反应酶系及代谢工程菌构建等方面的问题;并对Vc生物转化应用前景作了展望。     

响应面法优化Vc二步发酵新菌系产2-酮基-L-古龙酸的培养基

以短小芽胞杆菌(Bacillus pumilus)HJ-04作为维生素C二步发酵第2步中的伴生菌,促进产酸菌产维生素C(Vitamin C,Vc)前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸(2-keto-L-gulonic acid,2-KGA)的能力强于工业生产用菌株巨大芽胞杆菌(Bacillus megaterium) B2980.采用单因素试验、Plackett-Burman(PB)试验及Box-Behnken试验对影响新菌系发酵产2-KGA的6个因素进行分析优化.结果表明,L-山梨糖、尿素、玉米浆为显著影响因子.最佳产酸条件为L-山梨糖94.95 g/L,尿素11.99 g/L,玉米浆14.13g/L.优化后产酸量提高12.31 mg/mL,产酸周期缩短6h.     

VC三菌种一步发酵方法的构建与研究

就维生素C微生物一步发酵方法进行了探索,构建了酮古龙酸杆菌、氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和芽孢杆菌三菌混菌一步发酵的方法。研究发现,植物内生芽孢杆菌可以与酮古龙酸杆菌配合,促进酮古龙酸杆菌生长和产酸。在有山梨醇存在的条件下酮古龙酸杆菌及其伴生菌能够快速地生长增殖,植物内生芽孢杆菌在发酵的10h中不断消耗山梨醇。5L的发酵罐中,酮古龙酸杆菌、氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和植物内生芽孢杆菌三菌混菌一步发酵在恒定的30℃温度,600r/min搅拌速度和1.5vvm通气条件下,补料发酵过程中醇酸质量转化率达到了81.89%,在分批发酵过程中,醇酸质量转化率达到了87.90%,进一步优化了维生素C生产工艺。     

醇醛脱氢酶的分离纯化及其基因文库的构建和筛选

在维生素C的发酵生产过程中,普通生酮基古龙酸菌S2(Ketogulonigenium vulgare)能产生醇醛脱氢酶,将L-山梨糖转化为VC的前体2-酮基-L-古龙酸(2-KLG)。通过超声波破碎菌体、硫酸铵分级沉淀、DEAE Sepharose Fast Flow阴离子交换层析,QSepharose High Performance柱层析等过程,从普通生酮基古龙酸菌S2发酵液中分离纯化了醇醛脱氢酶,并用该纯化酶免疫新西兰兔制备出了合格抗血清。同时,普通生酮基古龙酸菌S2基因组DNA经Sau3AⅠ部分酶切后,与黏粒载体pKC505连接,用包装蛋白进行包装,转染大肠杆菌DH5浕,构建了基因组文库。最后应用免疫酶斑点技术(Dot-ELISA)从12000个克隆子中筛选得到一个阳性克隆K719#。通过检测该基因工程菌的活性,表明K719#具有使L-山梨糖转化为2-KLG的功能,从而使醇醛脱氢酶在大肠杆菌中获得了高效表达,这为简化VC的生产工艺奠定了基础。     

氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌中硫辛酸合成模块对维生素C一步混菌发酵的影响

在由氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和普通生酮古龙酸杆菌构建的维生素C两菌一步发酵体系中,为了强化氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌对普通生酮古龙酸杆菌生长和产酸的促进作用,文中在氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌中构建硫辛酸合成功能模块。由含硫辛酸功能模块的氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和普通生酮古龙酸杆菌组成的两菌一步体系,能减轻普通生酮古龙酸杆菌单菌培养时的生长抑制,强化两菌的互作关系,使维生素C前体(2-酮基-L-古龙酸,2-KGA)的产量提高到73.34 g/L(对照组为59.09 g/L),醇酸转化率提高到86.0%。研究结果为进一步优化维生素C两菌一步发酵体系提供了新思路。     

谷胱甘肽对VC一步发酵作用的研究

谷胱甘肽（GSH）能有效促进酮古龙酸杆菌的生长。就GSH对氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和酮古龙酸杆菌一步混菌发酵的作用进行了探索,为进一步阐明维生素C一步发酵过程中氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌和酮古龙酸杆菌的关系并提供发酵工艺优化的依据。研究发现,在5L的发酵罐中,外加1mg/ml的GSH对混菌的发酵有着显著的促进作用,2-酮-L-古龙酸（2-KGA）产量提高了22.8%。通过16S rDNA荧光定量PCR法测菌数,发现GSH的添加使酮古龙酸杆菌的生长提高到148%,但抑制氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌的生长,使其生物量下降到61%。运用代谢组学方法分析发现,GSH能促进酮古龙酸杆菌的磷酸戊糖、三羧酸循环、硫酸盐等代谢,同时减缓氧化葡萄糖酸杆菌对L-山梨糖的消耗,以促进整个混菌体系的发酵效率。     

Gelatin enhances 2-keto-L-gulonic acid production based on Ketogulonigenium vulgare genome annotation

In the two-step fermentative production of vitamin C, its precursor 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG) was synthesized by Ketogulonicigenium vulgare through co-culture with Bacillus megaterium. The reconstruction of the amino acid metabolic pathway through completed genome sequence annotation demonstrated that K. vulgare was deficient in one or more key enzymes in the de novo biosynthesis pathways of eight different amino acids (l-histidine, l-glycine, l-lysine, l-proline, l-threonine, l-methionine, l-leucine, and l-isoleucine). Among them, l-glycine, l-proline, l-threonine, and l-isoleucine play vital roles in K. vulgare growth and 2-KLG production. The addition of those amino acids increased the 2-KLG productivity by 20.4%, 17.2%, 17.2%, and 11.8%, respectively. Furthermore, food grade gelatin was developed as a substitute for the amino acids to increase the cell concentration, 2-KLG productivity, and l-sorbose consumption rate by 10.2%, 23.4%, and 20.9%, respectively. As a result, the fermentation period decreased to 43 h in a 7-L fermentor.     

A high throughput method to screen companion bacterium for 2-keto-l-gulonic acid biosynthesis by co-culturing Ketogulonicigenium vulgare

Bacillus megaterium is widely used as companion bacterium in the two-step biosynthesis of 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG) by Ketogulonicigenium vulgare. To screen efficiently target companion strains from large numbers of random mutants, a screen method based on spectrophotometry and 24-well microtiter plates was developed and validated on an integrated library of 450 transposon random insertional mutants and two sporulation-defective mutants. The co-culture processes were classified into three groups (low, intermediate and high performance) by K-mean clustering analysis. In addition, mutant m71 was successfully screened out from the library. The substrate conversion ratio of m71 and K. vulgare co-culture process after 72 h was decreased by about 38% compared with that of the wild-type co-culture process in 750 ml flasks. These results indicated that the proposed high throughput method is feasible for screening target companions for the co-culture process of 2-KLG biosynthesis.     

Two-helper-strain co-culture system: a novel method for enhancement of 2-keto-l-gulonic acid production

A novel two-helper-strain co-culture system (TSCS) was developed to enhance 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG) productivity for vitamin C production. Bacillus megaterium and B. cereus (with a seeding culture ratio of 1:3, v/v), used as helper strains, increased the 2-KLG yield using Ketogulonigenium vulgare compared to the conventional one-helper-strain (either B. cereus or B. megaterium) co-culture system (OSCS). After 45 h cultivation, 2-KLG concentration in the TSCS (69 g l^?1) increased by 8.9 and 7 % over that of the OSCS (B. cereus: 63.4 g l^?1; B. megaterium: 64.5 g l^?1). The fermentation period of TSCS was 4 h shorter than that of OSCS (B. cereus). The increased cell numbers of K. vulgare stimulated by the two helper strains possibly explain the enhanced 2-KLG yield. The results imply that TSCS is a viable method for enhancing industrial production of 2-KLG.     

Manipulation of B. megaterium growth for efficient 2-KLG production by K. vulgare

In the two-step Vitamin C fermentative production, its precursor 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG) was synthesized by Ketogulonicigenium vulgare through co-culture with Bacillus megaterium. The rates of K. vulgare cell growth and 2-KLG production were closely related with B. megaterium concentration in the co-culture system. To enhance the 2-KLG production efficiency, a strategy of manipulating B. megaterium growth in the co-culture system and properly releasing its intracellular components was introduced. Lysozyme was used specifically to damage B. megaterium cell wall structure and subsequently inhibit its cell growth. When 10,000 U mL⁻¹ lysozyme was fed to the co-culture system at 12 h, the growth rate of K. vulgare, sorbose consumption rate, and 2-KLG productivity could increase 27.4%, 37.1%, and 28.2%, respectively.     

Stepwise metabolic engineering of Gluconobacter oxydans WSH-003 for the direct production of 2-keto-l-gulonic acid from d-sorbitol

2-Keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG), the direct precursor of vitamin C, is currently produced by a two-step fermentation route from d-sorbitol. However, this route involves three bacteria, making the mix-culture system complicated and redundant. Thus, replacement of the conventional two-step fermentation process with a one-step process could be revolutionary in vitamin C industry. In this study, different combinations of five l-sorbose dehydrogenases (SDH) and two l-sorbosone dehydrogenases (SNDH) from Ketogulonicigenium vulgare WSH-001 were introduced into Gluconobacter oxydans WSH-003, an industrial strain used for the conversion of d-sorbitol to l-sorbose. The optimum combination produced 4.9 g/L of 2-KLG. In addition, 10 different linker peptides were used for the fusion expression of SDH and SNDH in G. oxydans. The best recombinant strain (G. oxydans/pGUC-k0203-GS-k0095) produced 32.4 g/L of 2-KLG after 168 h. Furthermore, biosynthesis of pyrroloquinoline quinine (PQQ), a cofactor of those dehydrogenases, was enhanced to improve 2-KLG production. With the stepwise metabolic engineering of G. oxydans, the final 2-KLG production was improved to 39.2 g/L, which was 8.0-fold higher than that obtained using independent expression of the dehydrogenases. These results bring us closer to the final one-step industrial-scale production of vitamin C.     

Combinational expression of sorbose/sorbosone dehydrogenases and cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone increases 2-keto-l-gulonic acid production in Ketogulonigenium vulgare–Bacillus cereus consortium

The expression levels of sorbose/sorbosone dehydrogenase genes (sdh and sndh) and the synthesis genes (pqqABCDEN) of the adjoint cofactor pyrroloquinoline quinone (PQQ) were genetically manipulated in Ketogulonigenium vulgare to increase the production of 2-keto-l-gulonic acid (2-KLG), the precursor of vitamin C, in the consortium of K. vulgare and Bacillus cereus. We found that overexpression of sdh–sndh alone in K. vulgare could not significantly enhance the production of 2-KLG, revealing the cofactor PQQ was required for the biosynthesis of 2-KLG. Various expression levels of PQQ were achieved by differential expression of pqqA, pqqABCDE and pqqABCDEN, respectively. The combinatorial expression of sdh/sndh and pqqABCDEN in K. vulgare enabled a 20% increase in the production of 2-KLG (79.1±0.6 g l⁻¹) than that of the parental K. vulgare (65.9±0.4 g l⁻¹) in shaking flasks. Our results demonstrated the balanced co-expression of both the key enzymes and the related cofactors was an efficient strategy to increase chemicals' biosynthesis.     

芽孢杆菌促普通生酮基古龙酸菌产酸机制研究进展

随着高通量测序技术、组学技术、生物信息学技术等多种技术的兴起与发展,关于维生素C混菌发酵中两菌作用关系的研究取得了一些成果。基于此,本文从芽孢、氨基酸、B族维生素、环境应力及小分子物质方面,对目前关于两菌间相互作用机制的研究进行综述,并为接下来的进一步研究提供新思路。     

Spaceflight‐induced enhancement of 2‐keto‐L‐gulonic acid production by a mixed culture of Ketogulonigenium vulgare and Bacillus thuringiensis

Two bacterial strains used for industrial production of 2‐keto‐L‐gulonic acid (2‐KLG), Ketogulonigenium vulgare 2 and Bacillus thuringiensis 1514, were loaded onto the spacecraft Shenzhou VII and exposed to space conditions for 68 h in an attempt to increase their fermentation productivities of 2‐KLG. An optimal combination of mutants B. thuringiensis 320 and K. vulgare 2194 (KB2194‐320) was identified by systematically screening the pH and 2‐KLG production of 16 000 colonies. Compared with the coculture of parent strains, the conversion rate of L‐sorbose to 2‐KLG by KB2194‐320 in shake flask fermentation was increased significantly from 82·7% to 95·0%. Furthermore, a conversion rate of 94·5% and 2‐KLG productivity of 1·88 g l^?1 h^?1 were achieved with KB2194‐320 in industrial‐scale fermentation (260 m³ fermentor). An observed increase in cell number of K2194 (increased by 47·8%) during the exponential phase and decrease in 2‐KLG reductase activity (decreased by 46·0%) were assumed to explain the enhanced 2‐KLG production. The results suggested that the mutants KB2194‐320 could be ideal substitutes for the currently employed strains in the 2‐KLG fermentation process and demonstrated the feasibility of using spaceflight to breed high‐yielding 2‐KLG‐producing strains for vitamin C production.

Significance and Impact of the Study

KB2194‐320, a combination of two bacterial strains bred by spaceflight mutation, exhibited significantly improved 2‐KLG productivity and hence could potentially increase the efficiency and reduce the cost of vitamin C production by the two‐step fermentation process. In addition, a new pH indicator method was applied for rational screening of K2, which dramatically improved the efficiency of screening.