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Establishing Vibrio natriegens as a high-performance host for acetate-based poly-3-hydroxybutyrate production
Roland J Politan1, Simona Della Valle1, Luke Pineda1
1The University of Western Australia, School of Molecular Sciences, Perth, Australia.
Metabolic Engineering
|July 13, 2025
Summary
Vibrio natriegens was engineered for faster growth on acetate, a sustainable carbon source. The enhanced strain efficiently produces the bioplastic poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB), enabling cost-effective biomanufacturing.
Area of Science:
- Biotechnology
- Microbial Engineering
- Synthetic Biology
Background:
- Acetate is a promising, sustainable carbon source for biotechnology.
- Industrial use is limited by low microbial efficiency.
- Vibrio natriegens offers rapid growth potential for bioprocesses.
Purpose of the Study:
- Enhance Vibrio natriegens' ability to utilize acetate.
- Develop an efficient microbial platform for acetate bioconversion.
- Optimize production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB).
Main Methods:
- Adaptive laboratory evolution to improve acetate utilization.
- Genetic and transcriptomic analyses to identify adaptations.
- Metabolic engineering and bioprocess optimization.
Main Results:
- Achieved an 89% increase in V. natriegens growth rate on acetate.
- Identified adaptations including increased salt tolerance and boosted Pta/AckA pathway activity.
- Produced PHB with productivities up to 0.27 g/L/h and 45.66% accumulation.
Conclusions:
- Engineered V. natriegens is a highly promising platform for sustainable biomanufacturing.
- Acetate can be efficiently converted to PHB using the evolved strain.
- Advances enable scalable and cost-effective production of bioplastics from green feedstocks.
