Bio-based glutathione production: Microbial strategies and challenges

Area of Science:

• Biotechnology and Biochemistry
• Microbial Fermentation
• Industrial Biotechnology

Background:

• Glutathione is a vital tripeptide with diverse applications.
• Increasing market demand necessitates improved glutathione production efficiency.
• Bio-based production via microbial fermentation is the primary industrial method.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review historical and recent advances in microbial fermentation for glutathione production.
• To summarize engineering strategies for high-producing microbial cell factories.
• To discuss supplementary bioproduction methods, challenges, and future perspectives.

Main Methods:

• Review of historical development in optimizing fermentation conditions.
• Summary of evolutionary and metabolic engineering for enhanced glutathione yield.
• Brief illustration of enzymatic conversion and whole-cell catalysis.

Main Results:

• Optimization of fermentation conditions historically improved glutathione yield.
• Metabolic and evolutionary engineering have advanced the construction of high-producing cell factories.
• Challenges in current production technologies are identified.

Conclusions:

• Microbial fermentation, particularly using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is key for glutathione synthesis.
• Further development of microbial platforms is crucial for efficient and sustainable production.
• Future research should focus on next-generation platforms for improved glutathione bioproduction.