Next-generation metabolic engineering of non-conventional microbial cell factories for carboxylic acid platform chemicals

Jian Li; Lanxin Rong; Yu Zhao; Shenglong Li; Cuiying Zhang; Dongguang Xiao; Jee Loon Foo; Aiqun Yu

doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107605

Next-generation metabolic engineering of non-conventional microbial cell factories for carboxylic acid platform chemicals

Biotechnol Adv. 2020 Nov 1:43:107605. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107605. Epub 2020 Jul 31.

Authors

Jian Li¹, Lanxin Rong², Yu Zhao³, Shenglong Li⁴, Cuiying Zhang⁵, Dongguang Xiao⁶, Jee Loon Foo⁷, Aiqun Yu⁸

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: jianli1995@mail.tust.edu.cn.
² State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: rong12345@mail.tust.edu.cn.
³ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: zhaoyu@mail.tust.edu.cn.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: 18820011@mail.tust.edu.cn.
⁵ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: Cyzhangcy@tust.edu.cn.
⁶ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: Xiao99@tust.edu.cn.
⁷ Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, 8 Medical Drive, Singapore 117597, Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore, 28 Medical Drive, Singapore 117456, Singapore. Electronic address: bchfjl@nus.edu.sg.
⁸ State Key Laboratory of Food Nutrition and Safety, Key Laboratory of Industrial Fermentation Microbiology of the Ministry of Education, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Industrial Microbiology, Tianjin Engineering Research Center of Microbial Metabolism and Fermentation Process Control, College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, No.29 the 13th Street TEDA, Tianjin 300457, PR China. Electronic address: yuaiqun@tust.edu.cn.

PMID: 32739448
DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2020.107605

Abstract

Carboxylic acids contain carboxyl groups that can undergo a wide range of chemical transformation. Therefore, they serve as key platform chemicals for the production of high value-added industrial products. Currently, the majority of carboxylic acid platform chemicals is produced predominantly through traditional chemical synthesis. However, these chemical conversion processes are heavily dependent on fossil fuels and often lead to serious environmental pollution. Recently, the rapid development in metabolic engineering of microbes provide a new and promising alternative route for producing carboxylic acids as platform chemicals. We envision that these bio-based manufacturing processes using microbial cell factories will help move the industrial production of carboxylic acid platform chemicals towards a more sustainable, environmentally friendly and economically competitive direction. While Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been the workhorses for biochemical production through metabolic engineering, non-conventional microbes are emerging as suitable hosts for producing carboxylic acids to meet the needs of the industries. Here, we review the employment of metabolic engineering strategies on non-conventional microbes to serve as microbial cell factories for the production of industrially important carboxylic acid platform chemicals.

Keywords: Biochemical production; Carboxylic acids; Metabolic engineering; Non-conventional microbes; Platform chemicals.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Carboxylic Acids
Escherichia coli / genetics
Family Characteristics
Industrial Microbiology*
Metabolic Engineering*

Substances

Carboxylic Acids