Production of 3-Hydroxypropionic Acid via the Propionyl-CoA Pathway Using Recombinant Escherichia coli Strains

Our study aimed to produce the commercially promising platform chemical 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) via the propionyl-CoA pathway in genetically engineered Escherichia coli. Recombinant E. coli Ec-P overexpressing propionyl-CoA dehydrogenase (PACD, encoded by the pacd gene from Candida rugosa) under the T7 promoter produced 1.33 mM of 3-HP in a shake flask culture supplemented with 0.5% propionate. When propionate CoA-transferase (PCT, encoded by the pct gene from Megasphaera elsdenii) and 3-hydroxypropionyl-CoA dehydratase (HPCD, encoded by the hpcd gene from Chloroflexus aurantiacus) were expressed along with PACD, the 3-HP titer of the resulting E. coli Ec-PPH strain was improved by 6-fold. The effect of the cultivation conditions on the 3-HP yield from propionate in the Ec-PPH strain was also investigated. When cultured at 30°C with 1% glucose in addition to propionate, 3-HP production by Ec-PPH increased 2-fold and 12-fold compared to the cultivation at 37°C (4.23 mM) or without glucose (0.68 mM). Deletion of the ygfH gene encoding propionyl-CoA: succinate CoA-transferase from Ec-PPH (resulting in the strain Ec-△Y-PPH) led to increase of 3-HP production in shake flask experiments (15.04 mM), whereas the strain Ec-△Y-PPH with deletion of the prpC gene (encoding methylcitrate synthase in the methylcitrate cycle) produced 17.76 mM of 3-HP. The strain Ec-△Y-△P-PPH with both ygfH and prpC genes deleted produced 24.14 mM of 3-HP, thus showing an 18-fold increase in the 3-HP titer in compare to the strain Ec-P.