Enhanced L-serine production in Corynebacterium glutamicum via promoter engineering and Bayesian optimization

L-serine is a valuable compound in various industries, including medicine, food and cosmetics. Corynebacterium glutamicum is the preferred choice for the fermentation production of amino acids. In this study, to enhance the L-serine titer, we engineered a C. glutamicum strain capable of high production of L-serine by regulating the transcription level of the L-serine synthesis key enzymes (serA, serC and serB). Firstly, the native promoter strengths of serA, serC and serB in strain C. glutamicum A36 (with 31.1 g/L L-serine titer) were evaluated and compared with four known-strength promoters (Pkan, dap-e, A16-1 and dap-e11). The promoter strength ratios were P-serA: P-serC: P-serB = 101.70: 1: 7.69, ranking as P-serC < Pkan < P-serB < dap-e < P-serA < A16-1 < dap-e11. Then, we regulated and enhanced the L-serine synthesis pathway by promoter engineering through two steps. In the first step, the native promoters of serA, serC and serB were replaced with stronger promoters individually, leading to 9 recombinant strains. The highest L-serine titer of A36-serA^dap-e11 reached 35.83 g/L, showing a 17.21% increase compared to the strain A36. In the second step, the native promoters of serC and serB were replaced with stronger promoters in combination based on the strain A36-serA^dap-e11, resulting in 19 recombinant strains. Among the strains, the recombinant strain A36-serA^dap-e11-serC^dap-e11-serB^dap-e11 (renamed as ACB) generated the highest L-serine titer (40.79 g/L), showed a 33.43% increase compared to the parent strain A36. Subsequently, the L-serine titer of strain ACB reached 46.42 g/L through Bayesian optimization, which was 13.80% higher than before. In the 5 L fermentor, the L-serine titer reached 62.23 g/L. This represents the highest reported L-serine production in C. glutamicum through fermentation.