Engineering PTS-based glucose metabolism for efficient biosynthesis of bacterial cellulose by Komagataeibacter...

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is a renewable biomaterial that has attracted significant attention due to its excellent properties and wide applications. Komagataeibacter xylinus CGMCC 2955 is an important BC-producing strain. It primarily produces BC from glucose while simultaneously generating gluconic acid as a by-product, which acidifies the medium and inhibits BC synthesis. To enhance glucose uptake and BC synthesis, we reconstructed the phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS_Glc) and strengthened glycolysis by introducing heterologous genes, resulting in a recombinant strain (GX08PTS03; Δgcd::ptsHIcrr_{E. coli}::ptsG_{E. coli}::pfkA_{E. coli}). Strain GX08PTS03 efficiently utilized glucose for BC production without accumulating gluconic acid. Subsequently, the fermentation process was systematically optimized. Under optimal conditions, strain GX08PTS03 produced 7.74 g/L of BC after 6 days of static fermentation, with a BC yield of 0.39 g/g glucose, which were 87.41 % and 77.27 % higher than those of the wild-type strain, respectively. The BC produced by strain GX08PTS03 exhibited a longer fiber diameter along with a lower porosity, significantly higher solid content, crystallinity, tensile strength, and Young's modulus. This study is novel in reporting that the engineered PTS_Glc-based glucose metabolism could effectively enhance the production and properties of BC, providing a future outlook for the biopolymer industry.