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Metabolic engineering of Ruminiclostridium papyrosolvens for 2,3-butanediol production from lignocellulose
Duodong Wang1, Ying Cheng2, Letian Ye3
1College of Animal Science and Technology & College of Veterinary Medicine of Zhejiang A&F University, Key Laboratory of Applied Technology on Green-Eco-Healthy Animal Husbandry of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Provincial Engineering Research Center for Animal Health Diagnostics & Advanced Technology, Zhejiang International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Veterinary Medicine and Health Management, Hangzhou 311300, Zhejiang Province, China; School of Life Science, Shanxi University, Taiyuan 030006, Shanxi, China.
Bioresource Technology
|May 26, 2026
Summary
Engineered Ruminiclostridium papyrosolvens overcomes cellobiose repression to produce 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) from lignocellulose. This metabolic engineering advances consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) for valuable chemical production.
Area of Science:
- Microbial biotechnology
- Synthetic biology
- Biochemical engineering
Background:
- Ruminiclostridium papyrosolvens efficiently degrades lignocellulose using cellulosomes.
- Native cellulolytic activity is limited by cellobiose repression and low-value products.
- Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) requires robust microbial platforms for biomass conversion.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer R. papyrosolvens for enhanced lignocellulose degradation and production of high-value chemicals.
- To overcome cellobiose-mediated carbon catabolite repression (CCR) in the cip-cel gene cluster.
- To establish a 2,3-butanediol (2,3-BDO) biosynthetic pathway for bioconversion of biomass.
Main Methods:
- Replaced the native promoter of the cip-cel gene cluster with an inducible promoter (Pcel) using ClosTron to eliminate CCR.
- Introduced heterologous genes for acetolactate decarboxylase (ALD) and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase (BDH) via the Att/Int system.
- Disrupted the ethanol synthesis pathway to redirect carbon flux towards 2,3-BDO production.
Main Results:
- Eliminated cellobiose-mediated CCR, enabling sustained cellulose hydrolysis.
- Successfully constructed a 2,3-BDO biosynthetic pathway in R. papyrosolvens.
- Engineered strain produced 140 μg/mL of 2,3-BDO from unpretreated corn stover in a batch CBP fermentation.
Conclusions:
- Metabolic engineering strategies successfully enhanced R. papyrosolvens for CBP.
- Overcoming CCR and redirecting carbon flux are key for efficient biomass valorization.
- This work provides a framework for producing high-value chemicals from renewable lignocellulosic biomass.
Keywords:
2,3-butanediolCarboncatabolic repressionCellulosomeLignocelluloseRuminiclostridium papyrosolvensMore Related Videos
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