Metabolomic analysis improves bioconversion of methanol to isobutanol in Methylorubrum extorquens AM1.

Methylorubrum extorquens AM1 can be engineered to convert methanol to value-added chemicals. Most of these chemicals derive from acetyl-CoA involved in the serine cycle. However, recent studies on methylotrophic metabolism have suggested that C3 pyruvate is a good potential precursor for broadening the types of synthesized products. In the present study, we found that isobutanol was a model chemical that could be generated from pyruvate through a 2-keto acid pathway. Initially, the engineered M. extorquens AM1 could only produce a trace amount of isobutanol at 0.62 mgL-1 after introducing the heterologous 2-ketoisovalerate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase. Furthermore, the metabolomic analysis revealed that insufficient carbon fluxes through 2-ketoisovalerate and pyruvate were the key limitation steps for efficient biosynthesis of isobutanol. Based on this analysis, the titer of isobutanol was improved by over 20-fold after overexpressing alsS gene encoding acetolactate synthase and deleting ldhA gene for lactate dehydrogenase. Moreover, substituting the cell chassis with the isobutanol-tolerant strain isolated from adaptive evolution of M. extorquens AM1 further increased the production of isobutanol by 1.7-fold, resulting in the final titer of 19 mgL-1 in flask cultivation. Our current findings provided promising insights into engineering methylotrophic cell factories capable of converting methanol to isobutanol or value-added chemicals using pyruvate as the precursor. © 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.

Citation

Zeng-Xin Ma, Min Zhang, Chang-Tai Zhang, Hui Zhang, Xu-Hua Mo, Xin-Hui Xing, Song Yang. Metabolomic analysis improves bioconversion of methanol to isobutanol in Methylorubrum extorquens AM1. Biotechnology journal. 2021 Jun;16(6):e2000413

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PMID: 33595188

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