Biosynthetic Pathway and Metabolic Engineering of Succinic Acid

Xiutao Liu; Guang Zhao; Shengjie Sun; Chuanle Fan; Xinjun Feng; Peng Xiong

doi:10.3389/fbioe.2022.843887

Biosynthetic Pathway and Metabolic Engineering of Succinic Acid

Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Mar 8:10:843887. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.843887. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Xiutao Liu¹, Guang Zhao², Shengjie Sun¹, Chuanle Fan^{3

4}, Xinjun Feng³, Peng Xiong¹

Affiliations

¹ School of Life Sciences and Medicine, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo, China.
² State Key Lab of Microbial Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao, China.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Biobased Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China.
⁴ School of Chemical Engineering, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Succinic acid, a dicarboxylic acid produced as an intermediate of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, is one of the most important platform chemicals for the production of various high value-added derivatives. As traditional chemical synthesis processes suffer from nonrenewable resources and environment pollution, succinic acid biosynthesis has drawn increasing attention as a viable, more environmentally friendly alternative. To date, several metabolic engineering approaches have been utilized for constructing and optimizing succinic acid cell factories. In this review, different succinic acid biosynthesis pathways are summarized, with a focus on the key enzymes and metabolic engineering approaches, which mainly include redirecting carbon flux, balancing NADH/NAD⁺ ratios, and optimizing CO₂ supplementation. Finally, future perspectives on the microbial production of succinic acid are discussed.

Keywords: CO2 fixation; NADH/NAD + ratio; biosynthesis pathways; metabolic engineering; succinic acid.

Publication types

Review