Highly efficient production of ectoine via an optimized combination of precursor metabolic modules in Escherichia coli BL21

Shunqing Xu; Bin Zhang; Wanhe Chen; Kai Ye; Jian Shen; Pengfu Liu; Jiequn Wu; Hong Wang; Xiaohe Chu

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129803

Highly efficient production of ectoine via an optimized combination of precursor metabolic modules in Escherichia coli BL21

Bioresour Technol. 2023 Dec:390:129803. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129803. Epub 2023 Sep 25.

Authors

Shunqing Xu¹, Bin Zhang², Wanhe Chen³, Kai Ye³, Jian Shen³, Pengfu Liu¹, Jiequn Wu¹, Hong Wang¹, Xiaohe Chu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China.
² College of Bioscience and Bioengineering, Jiangxi Agricultural University, Nanchang 330045, China.
³ Zhejiang Lvchuang Biotechnology Co., Ltd, Huzhou 313200, Zhejiang, China.
⁴ Collaborative Innovation Center of Yangtze River Delta Region Green Pharmaceuticals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, Zhejiang, China. Electronic address: chuxhe@zjut.edu.cn.

PMID: 37758030
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2023.129803

Abstract

Ectoine is an osmotic pressure protectant observed in various microorganisms and is widely used in cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. The market value of ectoine has increased considerably with social progress, resulting in high demand for ectoine production technology. Herein, a microbial cell factory in Escherichia coli that produces ectoine at high titers is described as developing efficient and environmentally friendly bio-based ectoine production technology. The ectoine biosynthetic pathway of Halomonas hydrothermalis was introduced into E. coli BL21 (DE3). Subsequent overexpression of precursor metabolic modules, including aspartate branching, pyruvate-oxoacetate, and glutamate biosynthesis pathways, resulted in the final strain, E. coli BCT08, which produced ectoine at a titer of 36.58 g/L during 30 h of fermentation. Sugar feeding speed optimization improved the ectoine titer to 131.8 g/L after 96 h of cultivation. This represents a remarkable achievement in ectoine production from glucose under low-salt conditions and has vast potential for industrial applications.

Keywords: Ectoine; Escherichia coli; Fermentation; Pathway engineering; Precursor supplement.

MeSH terms

Amino Acids, Diamino* / genetics
Amino Acids, Diamino* / metabolism
Biosynthetic Pathways
Escherichia coli* / genetics
Escherichia coli* / metabolism
Fermentation
Metabolic Engineering / methods

Substances

ectoine
Amino Acids, Diamino