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DISCOVER: A facile structure-based screening method for vinyl compound producing microbes.
Yuji Aso1, Mei Sano2, Hikari Kuroda2
1Department of Biobased Materials Science, Kyoto Institute of Technology, 1 Hashigami-cho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, 606-8585, Japan. aso@kit.ac.jp.
Scientific Reports
|November 7, 2019
Summary
A new method called DISCOVER enables efficient microbial screening for vinyl compounds like itaconic acid. This structure-based approach uses coupling reactions to isolate producing microbes from soil samples.
Area of Science:
- Microbiology
- Synthetic Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Vinyl compounds are valuable industrial chemicals.
- Current methods for isolating vinyl compound-producing microbes are often inefficient.
- Novel screening methods are needed for discovering new microbial producers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and validate a novel structure-based microbial screening method for vinyl compound discovery.
- To enable high-throughput and selective isolation of microbes producing specific vinyl compounds, such as itaconic acid.
- To demonstrate the efficacy of the DISCOVER method using *Aspergillus terreus* as a model.
Main Methods:
- Developed DISCOVER (direct screening method based on coupling reactions for vinyl compound producers), a two-step screening procedure.
- Utilized thiol-ene reaction in the first step for selective coupling of terminal alkenes.
- Employed Mizoroki-Heck reaction followed by an iodine test in the second step for detection and characterization of vinyl compounds.
Main Results:
- DISCOVER successfully isolated *Aspergillus terreus* strains producing itaconic acid from soil samples.
- Experimental data confirmed that itaconic acid reacts with α-thioglycerol via the thiol-ene reaction, leading to colony formation.
- The method demonstrated high throughput and selectivity in identifying vinyl compound producers.
Conclusions:
- DISCOVER is a novel and effective method for the structure-based screening and isolation of vinyl compound-producing microbes.
- The method facilitates the discovery of microorganisms producing valuable compounds like itaconic acid.
- DISCOVER offers a significant advancement in microbial screening for biotechnological applications.
