Production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from acetate using metabolically-engineered and glucose-grown Escherichia coli

• Published in: Bioresource technology Vol. 320; no. Pt A; p. 124362
• Main Authors: Lama, Suman, Kim, Yeonhee, Nguyen, Dat Tuan, Im, Chae Ho, Sankaranarayanan, Mugesh, Park, Sunghoon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 01.01.2021
• Subjects: 3-Hydroxypropionic acid; Acetate utilization; Acetates; Chloroflexus; Engineered Escherichia coli; Escherichia coli - genetics; Glucose; Lactic Acid - analogs & derivatives; Malonyl-CoA reductase; Metabolic Engineering; Two-stage process; Two-stage process; Acetate utilization; Malonyl-CoA reductase; 3-Hydroxypropionic acid; Engineered Escherichia coli
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2020.124362

•Two stage cultivation method was adopted to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) from acetate.•Glucose was used as carbon source for cell growth and acetate for 3-HP biosynthesis.•72 mM 3-HP was produced with the yield of 0.26 mol/mol acetate. Acetate can be used as carbon feedstock for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), but the production level was low due to inefficient cell growth on acetate. To better utilize acetate, a two-stage strategy, whereby glucose is used for cell growth and acetate for 3-HP formation, was attempted. Dissected malonyl-CoA reductase of Chloroflexus aurantiacus, alone or along with acetyl-CoA carboxylase and/or transhydrogenase, was overexpressed, and by-products formation pathway, glyoxylate shunt (GS) and gluconeogenesis were modified. When GS or gluconeogenesis was disrupted, cell growth on glucose was not hampered, while on acetate it was completely abolished. Consequently, 3-HP production, at production stage, were low, though 3-HP yield on acetate was increased, especially in the case of aceA deletion. In two-stage bioreactor, strain with upregulated GS produced 7.3 g/L 3-HP with yield of 0.26 mol/mol acetate. This study suggests that two-stage cultivation is a good strategy for 3-HP production from acetate.