Fatty acids and 3-hydroxypropionic acid were efficiently produced by engineering co-utilization of glucose and xylose in Ogataea polymorpha for lignocellulose biorefinery. Credit: DICP
A team from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics has originated a microbial system that enhances the production of important chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass by boosting sugar co-fermentation.
Lignocellulosic biomass is a renewable feedstock for 2nd-generation biomanufacturing. In particular, effective co-fermentation of blended glucose and xylose in lignocellulosic hydrolysates is a key problem in minimizing item expenses.
However, co-utilization of xylose and glucose in microorganisms is challenging due to restricted xylose assimilation and the glucose repression result.
Current Advances by DICP Researchers
Recently, a research group led by Prof. Yongjin Zhou from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has proposed a microbial platform for lignocellulose bio-refinery. It can efficiently synthesize acetyl-CoA derivatives, such as fats (FFA) and 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), owing to the enhanced supply of precursor acetyl-CoA and cofactor NADPH by rewiring the cellular metabolic process of Ogataea ( Hansenula) polymorpha.
This study will be published today (August 24) in Nature Chemical Biology.
Technological Innovations and Results
The researchers successfully attained the simultaneous utilization of glucose and xylose. They did this by introducing a hexose transporter mutant and xylose isomerase, and overexpressing the native xylulokinase to boost xylose catabolism and import.
The crafted strain produced 7.0 g/L FFA from genuine lignocellulosic hydrolysates in shake flasks and 38.2 g/L FFA from simulated lignocellulose in a bioreactor. This remarkable cell factory was broadened for 3-HP production by a metabolic transforming strategy, getting the highest 3-HP titer of 79.6 g/L from simulated lignocellulose.
” Our work recognized co-utilization of xylose and glucose without compromising native glucose metabolic process and showed the potential of O. polymorpha as a cell factory to produce flexible value-added chemicals from lignocellulose,” stated Prof. Zhou.
Reference: “Engineering co-utilization of glucose and xylose for chemical overproduction from lignocellulose” 24 August 2023, Nature Chemical Biology.DOI: 10.1038/ s41589-023-01402-6.
