Advances in metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum to produce high-value active ingredients for food, feed, human health, and well-being

Sabrina Wolf; Judith Becker; Yota Tsuge; Hideo Kawaguchi; Akihiko Kondo; Jan Marienhagen; Michael Bott; Volker F Wendisch; Christoph Wittmann

doi:10.1042/EBC20200134

Advances in metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum to produce high-value active ingredients for food, feed, human health, and well-being

Essays Biochem. 2021 Jul 26;65(2):197-212. doi: 10.1042/EBC20200134.

Authors

Sabrina Wolf¹, Judith Becker¹, Yota Tsuge², Hideo Kawaguchi³, Akihiko Kondo^{3

4

5}, Jan Marienhagen^{6

7

8}, Michael Bott^{6

8}, Volker F Wendisch⁹, Christoph Wittmann¹

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Systems Biotechnology, Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany.
² Institute for Frontier Science Initiative, Kanazawa University, Japan.
³ Graduate School of Science, Technology and Innovation, Kobe University, Japan.
⁴ Graduate School of Engineering, Kobe University, Japan.
⁵ Biomass Engineering Research Division, RIKEN, Yokohama, Japan.
⁶ Institute of Bio- and Geosciences, IBG-1: Biotechnology, Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.
⁷ Institute of Biotechnology, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany.
⁸ The Bioeconomy Science Center (BioSC), Forschungszentrum Jülich, Germany.
⁹ Genetics of Prokaryotes, Biology & CeBiTec, Bielefeld University, Germany.

Abstract

The soil microbe Corynebacterium glutamicum is a leading workhorse in industrial biotechnology and has become famous for its power to synthetise amino acids and a range of bulk chemicals at high titre and yield. The product portfolio of the microbe is continuously expanding. Moreover, metabolically engineered strains of C. glutamicum produce more than 30 high value active ingredients, including signature molecules of raspberry, savoury, and orange flavours, sun blockers, anti-ageing sugars, and polymers for regenerative medicine. Herein, we highlight recent advances in engineering of the microbe into novel cell factories that overproduce these precious molecules from pioneering proofs-of-concept up to industrial productivity.

Keywords: Corynebacterium glutamicum; extremolytes; metabolic engineering; plant phenols; synthetic biology; terpenoids.

Publication types

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

MeSH terms

Amino Acids / metabolism
Biotechnology
Corynebacterium glutamicum* / genetics
Corynebacterium glutamicum* / metabolism
Humans
Metabolic Engineering

Substances

Amino Acids