Advances in microbial synthesis of bioplastic monomers

Bio-based plastics production offers an alternative to the environmental problems posed by a significant reliance on fossil fuels. While dicarboxylic acids were essential bioplastic monomers, producing them on a large scale proved problematic. Recently, metabolic engineering has opened up interesting possibilities for producing dicarboxylic acids sustainably and efficiently. In this chapter, studies on the development of several dicarboxylic acid bioplastic monomers were presented. Furthermore, for different dicarboxylic acids, a variety of metabolic engineering strategies were highlighted, including improving the utilization rate of substrates, strengthening the catalytic efficiency of key enzymes, blocking branching pathways to balance metabolic flux, and improving cell physiological performance to promote biosynthesis. Finally, the remaining obstacles and solutions for building advanced dicarboxylic acid microbial systems were discussed.