一碳气体利用微生物及其基因工程改造

一碳气体主要包括CO、CO_(2)和CH_(4)等,这些气体来源于陆地生物活动、工业废气以及气化合成气等,其中CO_(2)与CH_(4)是温室气体,对全球气候变化有着重要的影响。利用微生物进行一碳气体生物转化既可以解决废气排放的问题,又能生产燃料及多种化学品。近年来,运用CRISPR/Cas9等基因编辑技术对一碳气体利用微生物进行改造,是提高它们的产物得率、增加产物类型的重要途径。本文主要围绕甲烷营养菌、自养乙酸菌、一氧化碳营养菌等一碳气体利用微生物,综述了其生物学特性、好氧和厌氧代谢途径、代谢产物,以及常用的基因编辑技术(利用同源重组的基因中断技术、二类内含子ClosTron法、CRISPR/Cas基因编辑及以噬菌体重组酶介导的DNA大片段引入等)在它们中的应用,为后续相关研究提供参考。

Bioconversion of C1 gases and genetic engineering modification of gas-utilizing microorganisms

C1 gases including CO, CO₂ and CH₄, are mainly derived from terrestrial biological activities, industrial waste gas and gasification syngas. Particularly, CO₂ and CH₄ are two of the most important greenhouse gases contributing to climate change. Bioconversion of C1 gases is not only a promising solution to addressing the problem of waste gases emission, but also a novel route to produce fuels or chemicals. In the past few years, C1-gas-utilizing microorganisms have drawn much attention and a variety of gene-editing technologies have been applied to improve their product yields or to expand product portfolios. This article reviewed the biological characteristics, aerobic or anaerobic metabolic pathways as well as the metabolic products of methanotrophs, autotrophic acetogens, and carboxydotrophic bacteria. In addition, gene-editing technologies (e.g. gene interruption technology using homologous recombination, group II intron ClosTron technology, CRISPR/Cas gene editing and phage recombinase-mediated efficient integration of large DNA fragments) and their application in these C1-gas-utilizing microorganisms were also summarized.