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A systematically chromosomally engineered Escherichia coli efficiently produces butanol
Hongjun Dong1, Chunhua Zhao2, Tianrui Zhang3
1CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Microbial Resources, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Metabolic Engineering
|November 6, 2017
Summary
Engineered Escherichia coli now produces high yields of butanol without antibiotics or inducers. This novel, chromosomally engineered strain demonstrates significant potential for industrial-scale biotechnological production.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Metabolic Engineering
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Biotechnological butanol production is of significant interest.
- Engineered Escherichia coli offers higher butanol yields than natural producers.
- Existing E. coli strains require antibiotics and inducers due to vector-based systems.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a robust, chromosomally engineered Escherichia coli strain for efficient butanol production.
- To eliminate the need for antibiotics and inducers in fermentation processes.
- To overcome challenges of weaker gene expression from constitutive promoters in chromosomal engineering.
Main Methods:
- Iterative engineering of the butanol pathway and host genome.
- Integration of heterologous genes into the E. coli chromosome.
- Rational and non-rational strategies for strain optimization.
Main Results:
- Development of strain EB243, a chromosomally engineered E. coli.
- EB243 features 33 native gene deletions and 5 introduced heterologous genes.
- Achieved 20 g/L butanol production with 34% yield (83% theoretical) in antibiotic/inducer-free batch fermentation.
Conclusions:
- The developed strain EB243 shows high potential for industrial butanol production.
- Demonstrates a viable procedure for integrating knowledge to create industrially relevant microbial strains.
- Highlights the feasibility of vector-free, antibiotic-free, and inducer-free fermentation for enhanced bioprocesses.
