RESUMEN
Potato tubers accumulate substantial quantities of starch, which serves as their primary energy reserve. As the predominant component of potato tubers, starch strongly influences tuber yield, processing quality, and nutritional attributes. Potato starch is distinguished from other food starches by its unique granule morphology and compositional attributes. It possesses large, oval granules with amylose content ranging from 20 to 33 % and high phosphorus levels, which collectively determine the unique physicochemical characteristics. These physicochemical properties direct the utility of potato starch across diverse food and industrial applications. This review synthesizes current knowledge on the molecular factors controlling potato starch biosynthesis and structure-function relationships. Key topics covered are starch granule morphology, the roles and regulation of major biosynthetic enzymes, transcriptional and hormonal control, genetic engineering strategies, and opportunities to tailor starch functionality. Elucidating the contributions of different enzymes in starch biosynthesis has enabled targeted modification of potato starch composition and properties. However, realizing the full potential of this knowledge faces challenges in optimizing starch quality without compromising plant vigor and yield. Overall, integrating multi-omics datasets with advanced genetic and metabolic engineering tools can facilitate the development of elite cultivars with enhanced starch yield and tailored functionalities.
Asunto(s)
Ingeniería Metabólica , Solanum tuberosum , Almidón , Solanum tuberosum/metabolismo , Solanum tuberosum/genética , Solanum tuberosum/química , Almidón/química , Almidón/metabolismo , Almidón/biosíntesis , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Tubérculos de la Planta/metabolismo , Tubérculos de la Planta/química , Amilosa/biosíntesis , Amilosa/metabolismo , Amilosa/química , Regulación de la Expresión Génica de las Plantas , Proteínas de Plantas/metabolismo , Proteínas de Plantas/genéticaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Metabolic engineering enables the sustainable and cost-efficient production of complex chemicals. Efficient production of terpenes in Saccharomyces cerevisiae can be achieved by recruiting an intermediate of the mevalonate pathway. The present study aimed to evaluate the engineering strategies of S. cerevisiae for the production of taxadiene, a precursor of taxol, an antineoplastic drug. RESULT: SCIGS22a, a previously engineered strain with modifications in the mevalonate pathway (MVA), was used as a background strain. This strain was engineered to enable a high flux towards farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) and the availability of NADPH. The strain MVA was generated from SCIGS22a by overexpressing all mevalonate pathway genes. Combining the background strains with 16 different episomal plasmids, which included the combination of 4 genes: tHMGR (3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase), ERG20 (farnesyl pyrophosphate synthase), GGPPS (geranyl diphosphate synthase) and TS (taxadiene synthase) resulted in the highest taxadiene production in S. cerevisiae of 528 mg/L. CONCLUSION: Our study highlights the critical role of pathway balance in metabolic engineering, mainly when dealing with toxic molecules like taxadiene. We achieved significant improvements in taxadiene production by employing a combinatorial approach and focusing on balancing the downstream and upstream pathways. These findings emphasize the importance of minor gene expression modification levels to achieve a well-balanced pathway, ultimately leading to enhanced taxadiene accumulation.
Asunto(s)
Ingeniería Metabólica , Ácido Mevalónico , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Ácido Mevalónico/metabolismo , Alquenos/metabolismo , Fosfatos de Poliisoprenilo/metabolismo , Diterpenos/metabolismo , Hidroximetilglutaril-CoA Reductasas/genética , Hidroximetilglutaril-CoA Reductasas/metabolismo , NADP/metabolismo , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Proteínas de Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , SesquiterpenosRESUMEN
Expressing plant metabolic pathways in microbial platforms is an efficient, cost-effective solution for producing many desired plant compounds. As eukaryotic organisms, yeasts are often the preferred platform. However, expression of plant enzymes in a yeast frequently leads to failure because the enzymes are poorly adapted to the foreign yeast cellular environment. Here, we first summarize the current engineering approaches for optimizing performance of plant enzymes in yeast. A critical limitation of these approaches is that they are labour-intensive and must be customized for each individual enzyme, which significantly hinders the establishment of plant pathways in cellular factories. In response to this challenge, we propose the development of a cost-effective computational pipeline to redesign plant enzymes for better adaptation to the yeast cellular milieu. This proposition is underpinned by compelling evidence that plant and yeast enzymes exhibit distinct sequence features that are generalizable across enzyme families. Consequently, we introduce a data-driven machine learning framework designed to extract 'yeastizing' rules from natural protein sequence variations, which can be broadly applied to all enzymes. Additionally, we discuss the potential to integrate the machine learning model into a full design-build-test cycle.
Asunto(s)
Ingeniería Metabólica , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Plantas , Enzimas/genética , Enzimas/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genética , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/enzimología , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Aprendizaje Automático , Redes y Vías Metabólicas/genéticaRESUMEN
The demand for sustainably produced bulk chemicals is constantly rising. Succinate serves as a fundamental component in various food, chemical, and pharmaceutical products. Succinate can be produced from sustainable raw materials using microbial fermentation and enzyme-based technologies. Bacteroides and Phocaeicola species, widely distributed and prevalent gut commensals, possess enzyme sets for the metabolization of complex plant polysaccharides and synthesize succinate as a fermentative end product. This study employed novel molecular techniques to enhance succinate yields in the natural succinate producer Phocaeicola vulgatus by directing the metabolic carbon flow toward succinate formation. The deletion of the gene encoding the methylmalonyl-CoA mutase (Δmcm, bvu_0309-0310) resulted in a 95% increase in succinate production, as metabolization to propionate was effectively blocked. Furthermore, deletion of genes encoding the lactate dehydrogenase (Δldh, bvu_2499) and the pyruvate:formate lyase (Δpfl, bvu_2880) eliminated the formation of fermentative end products lactate and formate. By overproducing the transketolase (TKT, BVU_2318) in the triple deletion mutant, succinate production increased from 3.9 mmol/g dry weight in the wild type to 10.9 mmol/g dry weight. Overall, succinate yield increased by 180% in the new mutant strain P. vulgatus Δmcm Δldh Δpfl pG106_tkt relative to the parent strain. This approach is a proof of concept, verifying the genetic accessibility of P. vulgatus, and forms the basis for targeted genetic optimization. The increase of efficiency highlights the huge potential of P. vulgatus as a succinate producer with applications in sustainable bioproduction processes. KEY POINTS: ⢠Deleting methylmalonyl-CoA mutase gene in P. vulgatus doubled succinate production ⢠Triple deletion mutant with transketolase overexpression increased succinate yield by 180% ⢠P. vulgatus shows high potential for sustainable bulk chemical production via genetic optimization.
Asunto(s)
Fermentación , Ácido Succínico , Ácido Succínico/metabolismo , Humanos , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Eliminación de Gen , Metilmalonil-CoA Mutasa/genética , Metilmalonil-CoA Mutasa/metabolismo , Microbioma Gastrointestinal , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismoRESUMEN
There is a growing interest in the creation of engineered condensates formed via liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS) to exert precise cellular control in prokaryotes. However, de novo design of cellular condensates to control metabolic flux or protein translation remains a challenge. Here, we present a synthetic condensate platform, generated through the incorporation of artificial, disordered proteins to realize specific functions in Bacillus subtilis. To achieve this, the "stacking blocks" strategy is developed to rationally design a series of LLPS-promoting proteins for programming condensates. Through the targeted recruitment of biomolecules, our investigation demonstrates that cellular condensates effectively sequester biosynthetic pathways. We successfully harness this capability to enhance the biosynthesis of 2'-fucosyllactose by 123.3%. Furthermore, we find that condensates can enhance the translation specificity of tailored enzyme fourfold, and can increase N-acetylmannosamine titer by 75.0%. Collectively, these results lay the foundation for the design of engineered condensates endowed with multifunctional capacities.
Asunto(s)
Bacillus subtilis , Proteínas Bacterianas , Hexosaminas , Ingeniería Metabólica , Bacillus subtilis/metabolismo , Bacillus subtilis/genética , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Hexosaminas/biosíntesis , Hexosaminas/metabolismo , Hexosaminas/química , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Proteínas Bacterianas/química , Vías Biosintéticas , Ingeniería de Proteínas/métodos , Biosíntesis de Proteínas , Trisacáridos/metabolismo , Trisacáridos/biosíntesis , Trisacáridos/química , Extracción Líquido-Líquido/métodosRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Pseudomonas putida KT2440 has emerged as a promising host for industrial bioproduction. However, its strictly aerobic nature limits the scope of applications. Remarkably, this microbe exhibits high bioconversion efficiency when cultured in an anoxic bio-electrochemical system (BES), where the anode serves as the terminal electron acceptor instead of oxygen. This environment facilitates the synthesis of commercially attractive chemicals, including 2-ketogluconate (2KG). To better understand this interesting electrogenic phenotype, we studied the BES-cultured strain on a systems level through multi-omics analysis. Inspired by our findings, we constructed novel mutants aimed at improving 2KG production. RESULTS: When incubated on glucose, P. putida KT2440 did not grow but produced significant amounts of 2KG, along with minor amounts of gluconate, acetate, pyruvate, succinate, and lactate. 13C tracer studies demonstrated that these products are partially derived from biomass carbon, involving proteins and lipids. Over time, the cells exhibited global changes on both the transcriptomic and proteomic levels, including the shutdown of translation and cell motility, likely to conserve energy. These adaptations enabled the cells to maintain significant metabolic activity for several weeks. Acetate formation was shown to contribute to energy supply. Mutants deficient in acetate production demonstrated superior 2KG production in terms of titer, yield, and productivity. The ∆aldBI ∆aldBII double deletion mutant performed best, accumulating 2KG at twice the rate of the wild type and with an increased yield (0.96 mol/mol). CONCLUSIONS: By integrating transcriptomic, proteomic, and metabolomic analyses, this work provides the first systems biology insight into the electrogenic phenotype of P. putida KT2440. Adaptation to anoxic-electrogenic conditions involved coordinated changes in energy metabolism, enabling cells to sustain metabolic activity for extended periods. The metabolically engineered mutants are promising for enhanced 2KG production under these conditions. The attenuation of acetate synthesis represents the first systems biology-informed metabolic engineering strategy for enhanced 2KG production in P. putida. This non-growth anoxic-electrogenic mode expands our understanding of the interplay between growth, glucose phosphorylation, and glucose oxidation into gluconate and 2KG in P. putida.
Asunto(s)
Gluconatos , Ingeniería Metabólica , Pseudomonas putida , Biología de Sistemas , Pseudomonas putida/metabolismo , Pseudomonas putida/genética , Gluconatos/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Biología de Sistemas/métodos , Glucosa/metabolismo , Proteómica , MultiómicaRESUMEN
Succinic acid (SA), a dicarboxylic acid of industrial importance, can be efficiently produced by metabolically engineered Mannheimia succiniciproducens. Although the importance of magnesium (Mg2+) ion on SA production has been evident from our previous studies, the role of Mg2+ ion remains largely unexplored. In this study, we investigated the impact of Mg2+ ion on SA production and developed a hyper-SA producing strain of M. succiniciproducens by reconstructing the Mg2+ ion transport system. To achieve this, optimal alkaline neutralizer comprising Mg2+ ion was developed and the physiological effect of Mg2+ ion was analyzed. Subsequently, the Mg2+ ion transport system was reconstructed by introducing an efficient Mg2+ ion transporter from Salmonella enterica. A high-inoculum fed-batch fermentation of the final engineered strain produced 152.23 ± 0.99 g/L of SA, with a maximum productivity of 39.64 ± 0.69 g/L/h. These findings highlight the importance of Mg2+ ions and transportation system optimization in succinic acid production by M. succiniciproducens.
Asunto(s)
Fermentación , Magnesio , Mannheimia , Ácido Succínico , Ácido Succínico/metabolismo , Magnesio/metabolismo , Mannheimia/metabolismo , Mannheimia/genética , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Proteínas Bacterianas/metabolismo , Proteínas Bacterianas/genética , Proteínas de Transporte de Catión/metabolismo , Proteínas de Transporte de Catión/genéticaRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Benzyl acetate is an aromatic ester with a jasmine scent. It was discovered in plants and has broad applications in food, cosmetic, and pharmaceutical industries. Its current production predominantly relies on chemical synthesis. In this study, Escherichia coli was engineered to produce benzyl acetate. RESULTS: Two biosynthetic routes based on the CoA-dependent ß-oxidation pathway were constructed in E. coli for benzyl acetate production. In route I, benzoic acid pathway was extended to produce benzyl alcohol by combining carboxylic acid reductase and endogenous dehydrogenases and/or aldo-keto reductases in E. coli. Benzyl alcohol was then condensed with acetyl-CoA by the alcohol acetyltransferase ATF1 from yeast to form benzyl acetate. In route II, a plant CoA-dependent ß-oxidation pathway via benzoyl-CoA was assessed for benzyl alcohol and benzyl acetate production in E. coli. The overexpression of the phosphotransacetylase from Clostridium kluyveri (CkPta) further improved benzyl acetate production in E. coli. Two-phase extractive fermentation in situ was adopted and optimized for benzyl acetate production in a shake flask. The most optimal strain produced 3.0 ± 0.2 g/L benzyl acetate in 48 h by shake-flask fermentation. CONCLUSIONS: We were able to establish the whole pathway for benzyl acetate based on the CoA-dependent ß-oxidation in single strain for the first time. The highest titer for benzyl acetate produced from glucose by E. coli is reported. Moreover, cinnamyl acetate production as an unwanted by-product was very low. Results provided novel information regarding the engineering benzyl acetate production in microorganisms.
Asunto(s)
Escherichia coli , Glucosa , Ingeniería Metabólica , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/genética , Glucosa/metabolismo , Fermentación , Acetatos/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción , Acetilcoenzima A/metabolismo , Oxidorreductasas/metabolismo , Oxidorreductasas/genética , Compuestos de Bencilo/metabolismoRESUMEN
Episomal AMA1-based plasmids are increasingly used for expressing biosynthetic pathways and CRISPR/Cas systems in filamentous fungi cell factories due to their high transformation efficiency and multicopy nature. However, the gene expression from AMA1 plasmids has been observed to be highly heterogeneous in growing mycelia. To overcome this limitation, here we developed next-generation AMA1-based plasmids that ensure homogeneous and strong expression. We achieved this by evaluating various degradation tags fused to the auxotrophic marker gene on the AMA1 plasmid, which introduces a more stringent selection pressure throughout multicellular fungal growth. With these improved plasmids, we observed in Aspergillus nidulans a 5-fold increase in the expression of a fluorescent reporter, a doubling in the efficiency of a CRISPRa system for genome mining, and a up to a 10-fold increase in the production of heterologous natural product metabolites. This strategy has the potential to be applied to diverse filamentous fungi.
Asunto(s)
Aspergillus nidulans , Sistemas CRISPR-Cas , Plásmidos , Aspergillus nidulans/genética , Aspergillus nidulans/metabolismo , Plásmidos/genética , Expresión Génica , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Vías Biosintéticas/genética , Productos Biológicos/metabolismoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Engineering bacteria with the purpose of optimizing the production of interesting molecules often leads to a decrease in growth due to metabolic burden or toxicity. By delaying the production in time, these negative effects on the growth can be avoided in a process called a two-stage fermentation. MAIN TEXT: During this two-stage fermentation process, the production stage is only activated once sufficient cell mass is obtained. Besides the possibility of using external triggers, such as chemical molecules or changing fermentation parameters to induce the production stage, there is a renewed interest towards autoinducible systems. These systems, such as quorum sensing, do not require the extra interference with the fermentation broth to start the induction. In this review, we discuss the different possibilities of both external and autoinduction methods to obtain a two-stage fermentation. Additionally, an overview is given of the tuning methods that can be applied to optimize the induction process. Finally, future challenges and prospects of (auto)inducible expression systems are discussed. CONCLUSION: There are numerous methods to obtain a two-stage fermentation process each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Even though chemically inducible expression systems are well-established, an increasing interest is going towards autoinducible expression systems, such as quorum sensing. Although these newer techniques cannot rely on the decades of characterization and applications as is the case for chemically inducible promoters, their advantages might lead to a shift in future inducible expression systems.
Asunto(s)
Fermentación , Percepción de Quorum , Bacterias/metabolismo , Bacterias/genética , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Regulación Bacteriana de la Expresión Génica , Regiones Promotoras GenéticasRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Seven-carbon sugars, which rarely exist in nature, are the key constitutional unit of septacidin and hygromycin B in bacteria. These sugars exhibit a potential therapeutic effect for hypoglycaemia and cancer and serve as building blocks for the synthesis of C-glycosides and novel antibiotics. However, chemical and enzymatic approaches for the synthesis of seven-carbon sugars have faced challenges, such as complex reaction steps, low overall yields and high-cost feedstock, limiting their industrial-scale production. RESULTS: In this work, we propose a strain engineering approach for synthesising sedoheptulose using glucose as sole feedstock. The gene pfkA encoding 6-phosphofructokinase in Corynebacterium glutamicum was inactivated to direct the carbon flux towards the pentose phosphate pathway in the cellular metabolic network. This genetic modification successfully enabled the synthesis of sedoheptulose from glucose. Additionally, we identified key enzymes responsible for product formation through transcriptome analysis, and their corresponding genes were overexpressed, resulting in a further 20% increase in sedoheptulose production. CONCLUSION: We achieved a sedoheptulose concentration of 24 g/L with a yield of 0.4 g/g glucose in a 1 L fermenter, marking the highest value up to date. The produced sedoheptulose could further function as feedstock for synthesising structural seven-carbon sugars through coupling with enzymatic isomerisation, epimerisation and reduction reactions.
Asunto(s)
Corynebacterium glutamicum , Glucosa , Heptosas , Ingeniería Metabólica , Corynebacterium glutamicum/metabolismo , Corynebacterium glutamicum/genética , Corynebacterium glutamicum/enzimología , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Heptosas/biosíntesis , Heptosas/metabolismo , Glucosa/metabolismo , Vía de Pentosa Fosfato , FermentaciónRESUMEN
Bilirubin (BR) is an important ingredient of a valuable Chinese medicine, Calculus bovis. Over recent decades, increasing evidence has confirmed that BR offers health benefits in cardiovascular health, stroke, diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. However, BR is mainly produced by extraction from pig bile. In this study, we assembled an efficient pathway for BR production by metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli. First, heme oxygenase (HO1) and biliverdin reductase were co-expressed in E. coli. HPLC and LC-MS confirmed the accumulation of BR in the recombinant E. coli cells. To improve BR production, the catalytic abilities of HO1 from different species were investigated. In addition, the outermembrane-bound heme receptor (ChuA) and the enzymes involved in heme biosynthesis were overexpressed among which ChuA, 5-aminolevulinic acid dehydratase (HemB), protoporphyrin oxidase (HemG), and ferrochelatase (HemH) were found to enhance BR accumulation in E. coli. In addition, expression of ferredoxin (Fd) was shown to contribute to efficient conversion of heme to BR in E. coli. To increase supply of NADPH, isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH), NAD kinase (nadK), NADP-specific glutamate dehydrogenase (gdhA), and glucose-6-phosphate 1-dehydrogenase (ZWF) were overexpressed and were found to enhance BR accumulation when these proteins were expressed with a low-copy plasmid pACYCduet-1. Modular optimization of the committed genes led to a titer of 17.2 mg/L in strain M1BHG. Finally, fed-batch fermentation was performed for the strains M1BHG and M1, resulting in accumulation of 75.5 mg/L and 25.8 mg/L of BR, respectively. This is the first report on biosynthesis of BR through metabolic engineering in a heterologous host.
Asunto(s)
Bilirrubina , Escherichia coli , Ingeniería Metabólica , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/genética , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Bilirrubina/metabolismo , Oxidorreductasas actuantes sobre Donantes de Grupo CH-CH/genética , Oxidorreductasas actuantes sobre Donantes de Grupo CH-CH/metabolismo , Hemo/metabolismo , Hemo/biosíntesis , Animales , PorcinosRESUMEN
The cyclohexane organic acid 3-dehydroshikimate (DHS) has potent antioxidant activity and is widely utilised in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. However, its production requires a long fermentation with a suboptimal yield and low productivity, and a disproportionate growth-to-production ratio impedes the upscaling of DHS synthesis in microbial cell factories. To overcome these limitations, competing and degradation pathways were knocked-out and key enzymes were balanced in an engineered Escherichia coli production strain, resulting in 12.2 g/L DHS. Furthermore, to achieve equilibrium between cell growth and DHS production, a CRISPRi-based temperature-responsive multi-component repressor system was developed to dynamically control the expression of critical genes (pykF and aroE), resulting in a 30-fold increase in DHS titer. After 33 h fermentation in 5 L bioreactor, the DHS titer, productivity and yield reached 94.2 g/L, 2.8 g/L/h and 55 % glucose conversion, respectively. The results provided valuable insight into the production of DHS and its derivatives.
Asunto(s)
Escherichia coli , Fermentación , Ingeniería Metabólica , Ácido Shikímico , Temperatura , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Ácido Shikímico/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Redes y Vías Metabólicas , Reactores Biológicos , Glucosa/metabolismoRESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Sugarcane molasses, rich in sucrose, glucose, and fructose, offers a promising carbon source for industrial fermentation due to its abundance and low cost. However, challenges arise from the simultaneous utilization of multiple sugars and carbon catabolite repression (CCR). Despite its nutritional content, sucrose metabolism in Escherichia coli, except for W strain, remains poorly understood, hindering its use in microbial fermentation. In this study, E. coli W was engineered to enhance sugar consumption rates and overcome CCR. This was achieved through the integration of a synthetically designed csc operon and the optimization of glucose and fructose co-utilization pathways. These advancements facilitate efficient utilization of sugarcane molasses for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), contributing to sustainable biochemical production processes. RESULTS: In this study, we addressed challenges associated with sugar metabolism in E. coli W, focusing on enhancing sucrose consumption and improving glucose-fructose co-utilization. Through targeted engineering of the sucrose utilization system, we achieved accelerated sucrose consumption rates by modulating the expression of the csc operon components, cscB, cscK, cscA, and cscR. Our findings revealed that monocistronic expression of the csc genes with the deletion of cscR, led to optimal sucrose utilization without significant growth burden. Furthermore, we successfully alleviated fructose catabolite repression by modulating the binding dynamics of FruR with the fructose PTS regulon, enabling near-equivalent co-utilization of glucose and fructose. To validate the industrial applicability of our engineered strain, we pursued 3-HP production from sugarcane molasses. By integrating heterologous genes and optimizing metabolic pathways, we achieved improvements in 3-HP titers compared to previous studies. Additionally, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gapA) repression aids in carbon flux redistribution, enhancing molasses conversion to 3-HP. CONCLUSIONS: Despite limitations in sucrose metabolism, the redesigned E. coli W strain, adept at utilizing sugarcane molasses, is a valuable asset for industrial fermentation. Its synthetic csc operon enhances sucrose consumption, while mitigating CCR improves glucose-fructose co-utilization. These enhancements, coupled with repression of gapA, aim to efficiently convert sugarcane molasses into 3-HP, addressing limitations in sucrose and fructose metabolism for industrial applications.
Asunto(s)
Escherichia coli , Fermentación , Fructosa , Glucosa , Ingeniería Metabólica , Melaza , Saccharum , Sacarosa , Saccharum/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Escherichia coli/genética , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Glucosa/metabolismo , Sacarosa/metabolismo , Fructosa/metabolismo , Operón , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Proteínas de Escherichia coli/genética , Represión Catabólica , Ácido Láctico/análogos & derivadosRESUMEN
Synthetic biology encompasses many kinds of ideas and techniques with the common theme of creating something novel. The industrially relevant microorganism, Ralstonia eutropha (also known as Cupriavidus necator), has long been a subject of metabolic engineering efforts to either enhance a product it naturally makes (polyhydroxyalkanoate) or produce novel bioproducts (e.g., biofuels and other small molecule compounds). Given the metabolic versatility of R. eutropha and the existence of multiple molecular genetic tools and techniques for the organism, development of a synthetic biology toolkit is underway. This toolkit will allow for novel, user-friendly design that can impart new capabilities to R. eutropha strains to be used for novel application. This article reviews the different synthetic biology techniques currently available for modifying and enhancing bioproduction in R. eutropha. KEY POINTS: ⢠R. eutropha (C. necator) is a versatile organism that has been examined for many applications. ⢠Synthetic biology is being used to design more powerful strains for bioproduction. ⢠A diverse synthetic biology toolkit is being developed to enhance R. eutropha's capabilities.
Asunto(s)
Cupriavidus necator , Ingeniería Metabólica , Biología Sintética , Cupriavidus necator/genética , Cupriavidus necator/metabolismo , Biología Sintética/métodos , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Polihidroxialcanoatos/metabolismo , Polihidroxialcanoatos/biosíntesis , BiocombustiblesRESUMEN
Microalgal oil production represents a promising renewable biofuel source. Metabolic engineering can enhance its utility, transforming it into an improved biofuel and expanding its applications as a feedstock for commodity chemicals, thereby increasing their value in biorefineries. This study focused on anaerobic wax ester production by the microalga Euglena gracilis, aiming to develop stable mutant strains with altered wax ester profiles through genome editing. Two enzymes in the fatty acid beta-oxidation pathway involved in wax ester production were targeted-3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase and acyl-CoA dehydrogenase-using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/Cas9. The results revealed one genetic mutation that lengthened and three that shortened the distribution of wax ester compositions compared to the wild-type (WT). The triple-knockout mutant, combining mutations that shorten wax ester chains, produced wax esters with acyl chains two carbons shorter than WT. This study established a methodology to stably modify wax ester composition in E. gracilis.
Asunto(s)
Ésteres , Euglena gracilis , Edición Génica , Mutagénesis , Ceras , Euglena gracilis/genética , Euglena gracilis/metabolismo , Ceras/metabolismo , Ésteres/metabolismo , Ésteres/química , Edición Génica/métodos , Anaerobiosis , Ácidos Grasos/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Mutación/genéticaRESUMEN
γ-Aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a widely distributed non-protein amino acid that serves as a crucial inhibitory neurotransmitter in the brain, regulating various physiological functions. As a result of its potential benefits, GABA has gained substantial interest in the functional food and pharmaceutical industries. The enzyme responsible for GABA production is glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), which catalyzes the irreversible decarboxylation of glutamate. Understanding the crystal structure and catalytic mechanism of GAD is pivotal in advancing our knowledge of GABA production. This article provides an overview of GAD's sources, structure, and catalytic mechanism, and explores strategies for enhancing GABA production through fermentation optimization, metabolic engineering, and genetic engineering. Furthermore, the effects of GABA on the physiological functions of animal organisms are also discussed. To meet the increasing demand for GABA, various strategies have been investigated to enhance its production, including optimizing fermentation conditions to facilitate GAD activity. Additionally, metabolic engineering techniques have been employed to increase the availability of glutamate as a precursor for GABA biosynthesis. By fine-tuning fermentation conditions and utilizing metabolic and genetic engineering techniques, it is possible to achieve higher yields of GABA, thus opening up new avenues for its application in functional foods and pharmaceuticals. Continuous research in this field holds immense promise for harnessing the potential of GABA in addressing various health-related challenges.
Asunto(s)
Biotecnología , Fermentación , Glutamato Descarboxilasa , Ingeniería Metabólica , Ácido gamma-Aminobutírico , Ácido gamma-Aminobutírico/biosíntesis , Ácido gamma-Aminobutírico/metabolismo , Glutamato Descarboxilasa/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Biotecnología/métodos , Animales , Humanos , Ingeniería Genética , Ácido Glutámico/metabolismoRESUMEN
Cells contain disparate amounts of distinct amino acids, each of which has different metabolic and chemical origins, but the supply cost vs demand requirements of each is unclear. Here, using yeast we quantify the restoration-responses after disrupting amino acid supply, and uncover a hierarchically prioritized restoration strategy for distinct amino acids. We comprehensively calculate individual amino acid biosynthetic supply costs, quantify total demand for an amino acid, and estimate cumulative supply/demand requirements for each amino acid. Through this, we discover that the restoration priority is driven by the gross demand for an amino acid, which is itself coupled to low supply costs for that amino acid. Demand from metabolic requirements dominate the demand-pulls for an amino acid, as exemplified by the largest restoration response upon disrupting arginine supply. Collectively, this demand-driven framework that drives the amino acid economy can identify novel amino acid responses, and help design metabolic engineering applications.
Asunto(s)
Aminoácidos , Saccharomyces cerevisiae , Aminoácidos/metabolismo , Saccharomyces cerevisiae/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Arginina/metabolismoRESUMEN
Anaerobic microbial fermentations provide high product yields and are a cornerstone of industrial bio-based processes. However, the need for redox balancing limits the array of fermentable substrate-product combinations. To overcome this limitation, here we design an aerobic fermentative metabolism that allows the introduction of selected respiratory modules. These can use oxygen to re-balance otherwise unbalanced fermentations, hence achieving controlled respiro-fermentative growth. Following this design, we engineer and characterize an obligate fermentative Escherichia coli strain that aerobically ferments glucose to stoichiometric amounts of lactate. We then re-integrate the quinone-dependent glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and demonstrate glycerol fermentation to lactate while selectively transferring the surplus of electrons to the respiratory chain. To showcase the potential of this fermentation mode, we direct fermentative flux from glycerol towards isobutanol production. In summary, our design permits using oxygen to selectively re-balance fermentations. This concept is an advance freeing highly efficient microbial fermentation from the limitations imposed by traditional redox balancing.
Asunto(s)
Escherichia coli , Fermentación , Glucosa , Glicerol , Ácido Láctico , Ingeniería Metabólica , Escherichia coli/metabolismo , Glicerol/metabolismo , Glucosa/metabolismo , Ingeniería Metabólica/métodos , Ácido Láctico/metabolismo , Oxidación-Reducción , Oxígeno/metabolismo , Glicerolfosfato Deshidrogenasa/metabolismo , Butanoles/metabolismo , AerobiosisRESUMEN
In recent years, genetic circuit-based regulation of metabolic flux in microbial cell factories has received significant attention. In this review, we describe a pipeline for the design and construction of genetic circuits for metabolic flux optimization. In particular, we summarize the recent advances in computationally assisted prediction of critical metabolic nodes and genetic circuit design automation. Further, we introduce strategies for constructing high-performance genetic circuits. We also summarize the latest applications of genetic circuits in the dynamic regulation of metabolism and high-throughput screening. Finally, we discuss the challenges and prospects associated with the design and construction of sophisticated genetic circuits. Through this review, we aim to provide a theoretical basis for designing and constructing high-performance genetic circuits to optimize metabolic flux.