•Mevalonate (MVA) can be utilized as the precursor for isoprenoid production.•This work established a two-step route for isoprenoid production.•The induction, betaine supplementation, and MVA feeding strategy play key roles.Isoprenoids are important fine chemicals as material monomers, advanced fuels and pharmaceuticals. A variety of natural isoprenoids can be synthesized by engineered microbial strains. This work established a process by dividing the current isoprenoid pathway into the upstream fermentation process, from sugar to mevalonate (MVA), and the downstream process, from MVA to the target isoprenoids. The results showed that significant differences existed in the process conditions between the upstream and downstream fermentations. After individually optimizing the process conditions, the upstream MVA production (84.0 g/L, 34.0% and 1.8 g/ L/h) and downstream isoprene production (11.0 g/L and 0.23 g/L/h) were greatly improved in this two-step process. Flask fermentation experiments also confirmed that two-step route can significantly improve the sabinene titer to 150 mg/L (6.5-fold of the sabinene titer in an earlier flask study of our lab). Therefore, the two-step route proposed in this study may have potential benefits towards the current isoprenoids production directly from glucose. The high titer and yield of MVA indicate that MVA has great potential to be more broadly utilized as starting precursor in synthetic biology.Download high-res image (128KB)Download full-size image

Phloroglucinol, an important fine chemical, was attempted to be produced by a recombinant Escherichia coli, using acetate, a less costly feedstock, as a alternative carbon source. Phloroglucinol was significantly produced by assembling an acetate assimilation pathway and phloroglucinol biosynthetic pathway in an engineered Escherichia coli strain. Subsequently, the culture conditions were optimized to enhance phloroglucinol production with a maximum titer of 554 mg L−1. Finally, fed-batch fermentation of phloroglucinol was evaluated using the optimized culture conditions, and reached a maximum concentration of 1.20 g L−1. The productivity (0.74 g per g DCW) and yield (0.18 g per g acetate) increased by 3.20-fold and 1.64-fold, respectively, compared with the data using glucose as the carbon source. Therefore, the engineered E. coli cells can be directly emplored for phloroglucinol biosynthesis from acetate with better atom economy and lower cost.

As the most abundant biomass in nature, cellulose is considered to be an excellent feedstock to produce renewable fuels and fine chemicals. Due to its hydrogen-bonded supramolecular structure, cellulose is hardly soluble in water and most conventional organic solvents, limiting its further applications. The emergence of ionic liquids (ILs) provides an environmentally friendly, biodegradable solvent system to dissolve cellulose. This review summarizes recent advances concerning imidazolium-based ILs for cellulose pretreatment. The structure of cations and anions which has an influence on the solubility is emphasized. Methods to assist cellulose pretreatment with ILs are discussed. The state of art of the recovery, regeneration, and reuse aspects of ILs is also presented in this work. The current challenges and development directions of cellulose dissolution in ILs are put forward. Although further studies are still much required, commercialization of IL-based processes has made great progress in recent years.

An efficient metalloporphyrins/H2O2/NO2− nitration of phenols has been developed. The total yield of nitrophenol could reach up to 55.1 %, which is about 4 and sixfold higher than that of horse radish peroxidase catalysis and peroxynitrite nitration, respectively. Furthermore, the nitration system attained an enhanced regioselectivity of 1.0 o/p ratio, and exhibited a good substrate scope of monophenols. This protocol is environmentally friendly compared with HNO3/H2SO4 nitration, and stable, inexpensive and organic solvent tolerant compared with enzyme catalytic nitration and peroxynitrite nitration reaction.

Escherichia coli is one of the most widely used strains for recombinant protein production. However, obstacles also exist in both academic researches and industrial applications, such as the metabolic burden, the carbon source waste, and the cells’ physiological deterioration. This article reviews recent approaches for improving recombinant protein production in metabolic engineering, including workhorse selection, stress factor application, and carbon flux regulation. Selecting a suitable host is the first key point for recombinant protein production. In general, it all depends on characteristics of the strains and the target proteins. It will be triggered cells physiological deterioration when the medium is significantly different from the cell’s natural environment. Coexpression of stress factors can help proteins to fold into their native conformation. Carbon flux regulation is a direct approach for redirecting more carbon flux toward the desirable pathways and products. However, some undesirable consequences are usually found in metabolic engineering, such as glucose transport inhibition, cell growth retardation, and useless metabolite accumulation. More efficient regulators and platform cell factories should be explored to meet a variety of production demands.

To investigate the green trinitration method of aromatic compounds, with Lewis acid/ionic liquid as catalyst and HNO3/Ac2O as nitration reagent, a Lewis acid/ionic liquid/HNO3/Ac2O system was established. In various combinations of Lewis acids and ionic liquids, Bi(NO3)3·5H2O/[HMIM]ClO4 proved to be a very efficient catalyst for the trinitration of activated aromatic compounds and reusable for 3 times. Reaction conditions for the trinitration were optimized and yields of the trinitro products were from mild to excellent. This sulfuric acid-free system has the advantages of strong trinitration ability, low environment pollution, low toxicity, low cost and high potential for industrial application.

Different Au/CeO2 catalysts, prepared by depositing gold on different facets of ceria nanocubes ({100}), nanorods ({110} and {100}) and nanopolyhedra ({111} and {100}), were separately characterized by means of XRD, N2 sorption, TPD and TPR. It was found that certain types of Au/CeO2 could selectively catalyze the oxidative transformation of 1,3-propanediol in methanol to methyl 3-hydroxypropionate, methyl 3-methoxypropionate, methyl acrylate or dimethyl malonate by molecular oxygen in the absence of any base. The selectivities of these Au/CeO2 catalysts depended on the shapes of the supporting CeO2 and the reaction temperature. The Au/CeO2 cube catalyst with less acidic and basic sites exhibited high selectivity towards methyl 3-hydroxypropionate (93.1% at 21.6% conversion). Comparatively, selectivities towards methyl acrylate (41.6% at 92.3% conversion) and methyl 3-methoxypropionate (40.2% at 92% conversion) increased using Au/CeO2 rod and polyhedron catalysts, which contained more acidic and basic sites than the cube catalyst. Moreover, we found the Au/CeO2 cube catalyst could be recycled without losing the gold nanoparticles.

Unlike many oleaginous microorganisms, E. coli only maintains a small amount of natural lipids in cells, impeding its utility to overproduce fatty acids. In this study, acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) from Acinetobacter calcoaceticus was expressed in E. coli to redirect the carbon flux to the generation of malonyl-CoA, which resulted in a threefold increase in intracellular lipids. Moreover, providing a high level of NADPH by overexpressing malic enzyme and adding malate to the culture medium resulted in a fourfold increase in intracellular lipids (about 197.74 mg/g). Co-expression of ACC and malic enzyme resulted in 284.56 mg/g intracellular lipids, a 5.6-fold increase compared to the wild-type strain. This study provides some attractive strategies for increasing lipid production in E. coli by simulating the lipid accumulation of oleaginous microorganisms, which could aid the development of a prokaryotic fatty acid producer.

Pretreatment of cellulose with ionic liquids (ILs) can improve the efficiency of the hydrolysis by increasing the surface area of the substrates accessible to solvents and cellulases. However, the IL methods are facing challenges to separate the hydrolyzed sugar products as well as the renewable ILs from the complex hydrolysis mixtures. In this study, an alumina column chromatography (ACC) method was developed for the separation of hydrophilic IL N-methyl-N-methylimidazolium dimethyl phosphate ([Mmim][DMP]) and glucose, which was the main ingredient of the monosaccharide hydrolyzate. The processing parameters involved in ACC separation were investigated in detail. Our results showed that the recovery yields of [Mmim][DMP] and glucose can reach up to 93.38% and 90.14%, respectively, under the optimized parameters: the sampling ratio of 1:20 between the applied sample volume and the bed volume of the column; a gradient elution using methanol (100%, 150 ml) and then water (170 ml) as eluents with 1 ml/min flow rate. The recovered [Mmim][DMP] showed qualified property and was effective in a new hydrolysis reaction. In addition, scale-up ACC separations were successfully done with satisfied separation performance. The results indicated that the ACC is one of the available methods for the separation of ILs and monosaccharides from the hydrolysis mixtures.

Confronted with the gradual and inescapable exhaustion of the earth’s fossil energy resources, the bio-based process to produce platform chemicals from renewable carbohydrates is attracting growing interest. Escherichia coli has been chosen as a workhouse for the production of many valuable chemicals due to its clear genetic background, convenient to be genetically modified and good growth properties with low nutrient requirements. Rational strain development of E. coli achieved by metabolic engineering strategies has provided new processes for efficiently biotechnological production of various high-value chemical building blocks. Compared to previous reviews, this review focuses on recent advances in metabolic engineering of the industrial model bacteria E. coli that lead to efficient recombinant biocatalysts for the production of high-value organic acids like succinic acid, lactic acid, 3-hydroxypropanoic acid and glucaric acid as well as alcohols like 1,3-propanediol, xylitol, mannitol, and glycerol with the discussion of the future research in this area. Besides, this review also discusses several platform chemicals, including fumaric acid, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, sorbitol, itaconic acid, and 2,5-furan dicarboxylic acid, which have not been produced by E. coli until now.

Isoprene is an aviation fuel of high quality and an important polymer building block in the synthetic chemistry industry. In light of high oil prices, sustained availability, and environmental concerns, isoprene from renewable materials is contemplated as a substitute for petroleum-based product. Escherichia coli with advantages over other wild microorganisms, is considered as a powerful host for biofuels and chemicals. Here, we constructed a synthetic pathway of isoprene in E. coli by introducing an isoprene synthase (ispS) gene from Populus nigra, which catalyzes the conversion of dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) to isoprene. To improve the isoprene production, we overexpressed the native 1-deoxy-d-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) synthase gene (dxs) and DXP reductoisomerase gene (dxr) in E. coli, which catalyzed the first step and the second step of MEP pathway, respectively. The fed-batch fermentation results showed that overexpression of DXS is helpful for the improvement of isoprene production. Surprisingly, heterologous expression of dxs and dxr from Bacillus subtilis in the E. coli expressing ispS resulted in a 2.3-fold enhancement of isoprene production (from 94 to 314 mg/L). The promising results showed that dxs and dxr from B. subtilis functioned more efficiently on the enhancement of isoprene production than native ones. This could be caused by the consequence of great difference in protein structures of the two original DXSs. It could be practical to produce isoprene in E. coli via MEP pathway through metabolic engineering. This work provides an alternative way for production of isoprene by engineered E. coli via MEP pathway through metabolic engineering.

Phloroglucinol is a valuable chemical which has been successfully produced by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli. However, the low productivity remains a bottleneck for large-scale application and cost-effective production. In the present work, we cloned the key biosynthetic gene, phlD (a type III polyketide synthase), into a bacterial expression vector to produce phloroglucinol in E. coli and developed different strategies to re-engineer the recombinant strain for robust synthesis of phloroglucinol. Overexpression of E. coli marA (multiple antibiotic resistance) gene enhanced phloroglucinol resistance and elevated phloroglucinol production to 0.27 g/g dry cell weight. Augmentation of the intracellular malonyl coenzyme A (malonyl-CoA) level through coordinated expression of four acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) subunits increased phloroglucinol production to around 0.27 g/g dry cell weight. Furthermore, the coexpression of ACCase and marA caused another marked improvement in phloroglucinol production 0.45 g/g dry cell weight, that is, 3.3-fold to the original strain. Under fed-batch conditions, this finally engineered strain accumulated phloroglucinol up to 3.8 g/L in the culture 12 h after induction, corresponding to a volumetric productivity of 0.32 g/L/h. This result was the highest phloroglucinol production to date and showed promising to make the bioprocess economically feasible.

A new approach for in situ enzymatic saccharification of cellulose in ionic liquids (ILs)-aqueous media is presented in which ultrasonic pretreatment was used to enhance the conversion of cellulose. For this purpose, the solubility of cellulose and the activity of cellulase were investigated in six alkylphosphate ILs. 1-Methyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphate ([Mmim][DMP]) giving favorable solubility and biocompatibility was selected to establish aqueous-ILs system for enzymatic in situ saccharification of cellulose. After further optimization of reaction parameters concerning cellulase concentration, temperature and IL concentration, higher conversion (95.48%) of cellulose was obtained in the media of aqueous-[Mmim][DMP] by conducting the pretreatment of cellulose with ultrasonic heating, whereas the conversion of cellulose untreated was 42.77%. Scanning electronic microscopy (SEM) and viscosity analysis indicated that IL-treated cellulose under ultrasonic condition was subjected to depolymerization, which led to more efficient saccharification. The findings of this study would have great implications for developing a continuous process for transformation of biomass such as straw cellulose to ethanol or other hydrocarbons.

Ionic liquid (IL) pretreatment of lignocellulose materials is a promising process in biomass conversion to renewable biofuel. More in-depth research involving environment-friendly IL is much needed to explore pretreatment green route. In our case, IL 1-methyl-3-methylimidazolium dimethylphosphite ([Mmim]DMP) was chosen as an environment-friendly solvent to pretreat corn cob in view of its biocompatibility with both lignocellulose solubility and cellulase activity. The pretreatment/saccharification process and in situ saccharification process involving [Mmim]DMP were efficiently performed in bioconversion of corn cob to sugars, and more than 70% saccharification rates were obtained. Furthermore, the fermentability of reducing sugars obtained from the hydrolyzates was evaluated using Rhodococcus opacus strain ACCC41043 (R. opacus). High lipid production 41–43% of cell dry matter was obtained after 30 h of cultivation. GC/MS analysis indicated that lipids from R. opacus contained mainly long-chain fatty acids with four major constituent/oleic acid, stearic acid, palmitic acid, palmitoleic acid which are good candidates for biodiesel. These elucidated that corn cob pretreated by IL [Mmim]DMP did not bring negative effects on saccharification, cell growth, and accumulation of lipid of R. opacus. In conclusion, the IL [Mmim]DMP shows promise as green pretreatment solvent for cellulosic materials.

With the incessant fluctuations in oil prices and increasing stress from environmental pollution, renewed attention is being paid to the microbial production of biofuels from renewable sources. As a gasoline substitute, butanol has advantages over traditional fuel ethanol in terms of energy density and hygroscopicity. A variety of cheap substrates have been successfully applied in the production of biobutanol, highlighting the commercial potential of biobutanol development. In this review, in order to better understand the process of acetone–butanol–ethanol production, traditional clostridia fermentation is discussed. Sporulation is probably induced by solvent formation, and the molecular mechanism leading to the initiation of sporulation and solventogenesis is also investigated. Different strategies are employed in the metabolic engineering of clostridia that aim to enhancing solvent production, improve selectivity for butanol production, and increase the tolerance of clostridia to solvents. However, it will be hard to make breakthroughs in the metabolic engineering of clostridia for butanol production without gaining a deeper understanding of the genetic background of clostridia and developing more efficient genetic tools for clostridia. Therefore, increasing attention has been paid to the metabolic engineering of E. coli for butanol production. The importation and expression of a non-clostridial butanol-producing pathway in E. coli is probably the most promising strategy for butanol biosynthesis. Due to the lower butanol titers in the fermentation broth, simultaneous fermentation and product removal techniques have been developed to reduce the cost of butanol recovery. Gas stripping is the best technique for butanol recovery found so far.

Biobased platform chemicals have attracted growing interest recently. Among them, 3-hydroxypropionic acid receives significant attention due to its applications in the synthesis of novel polymer materials and other derivatives. To establish a biotechnology route instead of the problematic chemical synthesis of 3-hydroxypropionic acid, biosynthetic pathway is required, and the strategies of how to engineer a microbe to produce this product should be considered. In the present review, we summarize and review all known pathways, which could be potentially constructed for 3-hydroxypropionic acid production. Mass and redox balances are discussed in detail. Thermodynamic favorability is evaluated by standard Gibbs free energy. The assembly of pathways and possible solutions are proposed. Several new techniques and future research needs are also covered.

•Cellular response to the deficiency of fatty acyl-CoA synthetases is investigated.•14-3-3 protein cannot improve ergosterol synthesis in acyl-CoA deficiency strain.•The decrease of ergosterol and ceramide contents can improve fatty acid secretion.Considering of the possible application of fatty acids secretion in industrial production process for reducing extraction costs, the effects of enhanced fatty acids secretion by knocking out acyl-CoA synthetases on the global regulation, cellular metabolism were investigated through integrated omics analysis. Firstly, functional category analysis of differential expression genes showed that most of the genes were associated with the cell cycle and biology process such as cellular component biogenesis, cell wall organization and so on. Secondly, the decreased mRNA levels of Tdh, Eno and Pgk1 in glycolysis in faa mutant YB526 were confirmed by the differential protein analysis. As described in previous reports, the decreased protein levels of Tdh, Eno and Pgk1 were resulted from the increase of 14-3-3 protein activity. However, the increased level of 14-3-3 proteins could not improve the biosynthesis of ergosterol in the acyl-CoA deficiency strain YB526 due to the toxic effects of fatty acids. Thirdly, the decrease of ergosterol and ceramide contents in cell envelopes can improve the permeation of membrane and fatty acids secretion in faa mutant YB526. This comprehensive omics analysis could be helpful in the rational design of robust yeasts for the production of free fatty acids or other biobased chemicals.Download high-res image (133KB)Download full-size image