Light-powered Escherichia coli cell division for chemical production

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 2262 - 14
• Main Authors: Ding, Qiang, Ma, Danlei, Liu, Gao-Qiang, Li, Yang, Guo, Liang, Gao, Cong, Hu, Guipeng, Ye, Chao, Liu, Jia, Liu, Liming, Chen, Xiulai
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.05.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14/28; 14/63; 38/35; 631/326/252/318; 631/61/252/318; 631/61/318; Acetoin; Acetoin - metabolism; Activation; Bioreactors - microbiology; Cell division; Cell Division - radiation effects; Cell size; Deoxyribonucleic acid; DNA; DNA biosynthesis; E coli; Escherichia coli - cytology; Escherichia coli - genetics; Escherichia coli - radiation effects; Escherichia coli - ultrastructure; Genes, Bacterial; Humanities and Social Sciences; I.R. radiation; Industrial engineering; Infrared radiation; Lactic acid; Light; Manufacturing engineering; Microorganisms; multidisciplinary; Polyesters - metabolism; Proteins; Reductase; Reductases; Replication; Replication initiation; Ribonucleotide reductase; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16154-3

Cell division can perturb the metabolic performance of industrial microbes. The C period of cell division starts from the initiation to the termination of DNA replication, whereas the D period is the bacterial division process. Here, we first shorten the C and D periods of E. coli by controlling the expression of the ribonucleotide reductase NrdAB and division proteins FtsZA through blue light and near-infrared light activation, respectively. It increases the specific surface area to 3.7 μm −1 and acetoin titer to 67.2 g·L −1 . Next, we prolong the C and D periods of E. coli by regulating the expression of the ribonucleotide reductase NrdA and division protein inhibitor SulA through blue light activation-repression and near-infrared (NIR) light activation, respectively. It improves the cell volume to 52.6 μm 3 and poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate) titer to 14.31 g·L −1 . Thus, the optogenetic-based cell division regulation strategy can improve the efficiency of microbial cell factories. Manipulation of genes controlling microbial shapes can affect bio-production. Here, the authors employ an optogenetic method to realize dynamic morphological engineering of E. coli replication and division and show the increased production of acetoin and poly(lactate-co-3-hydroxybutyrate).