Takashi Hirasawa

Increased 3-hydroxypropionic acid production from glycerol, by modification of central metabolism in Escherichia coli.

Background3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) is an important chemical precursor for the production of bioplastics. Microbial production of 3HP from glycerol has previously been developed through the optimization of culture conditions and the 3HP biosynthesis pathway. In this study, a novel strategy for improving 3HP production in Escherichia coli was investigated by the modification of central metabolism based on a genome-scale metabolic model and experimental validation.ResultsMetabolic simulation identified the double knockout of tpiA and zwf as a candidate for improving 3HP production. A 3HP-producing strain was constructed by the expression of glycerol dehydratase and aldehyde dehydrogenase. The double knockout of tpiA and zwf increased the percentage carbon-molar yield (C-mol%) of 3HP on consumed glycerol 4.4-fold (20.1 ± 9.2 C-mol%), compared to the parental strain. Increased extracellular methylglyoxal concentrations in the ΔtpiA Δzwf strain indicated that glycerol catabolism was occurring through the methylglyoxal pathway, which converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate to pyruvate, as predicted by the metabolic model. Since the ΔtpiA Δzwf strain produced abundant 1,3-propanediol as a major byproduct (37.7 ± 13.2 C-mol%), yqhD, which encodes an enzyme involved in the production of 1,3-propanediol, was disrupted in the ΔtpiA Δzwf strain. The 3HP yield of the ΔtpiA Δzwf ΔyqhD strain (33.9 ± 1.2 C-mol%) was increased 1.7-fold further compared to the ΔtpiA Δzwf strain and by 7.4-fold compared to the parental strain.ConclusionThis study successfully increased 3HP production by 7.4-fold in the ΔtpiA Δzwf ΔyqhD E. coli strain by the modification of the central metabolism, based on metabolic simulation and experimental validation of engineered strains.

Recent advances in amino acid production by microbial cells.

Amino acids have been utilized for the production of foods, animal feeds and pharmaceuticals. After the discovery of the glutamic acid-producing bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum by Japanese researchers, the production of amino acids, which are primary metabolites, has been achieved using various microbial cells as hosts. Recently, metabolic engineering studies on the rational design of amino acid-producing microbial cells have been successfully conducted. Moreover, the technology of systems biology has been applied to metabolic engineering for the creation of amino acid-producing microbial cells. Currently, new technologies including synthetic biology, single-cell analysis, and evolutionary engineering have been utilized to create amino acid-producing microbial cells. In addition, useful compounds from amino acids have been produced by microbial cells. Here, current researches into the metabolic engineering of microbial cells toward production of amino acids and amino acid-related compounds are reviewed.

13C-metabolic flux analysis in heterologous cellulase production by Bacillus subtilis genome-reduced strain

The great potential of Bacillus subtilis to produce biomaterials would be further enhanced by the development of strains with deletions of non-essential genomic regions. Here, using stationary (13)C-metabolic flux analysis ((13)C-MFA), we investigated the metabolism during cellulase production by the genome-reduced B. subtilis strain MGB874. We transformed MGB874 and wild-type strains with the heterologous cellulase gene, and cultured these on a synthetic medium containing glucose as carbon source. The addition of glutamate and the genome reduction enhanced cellulase production, which led us to use (13)C-MFA to assess the effects of glutamate addition and gene deletions on metabolism. We found that there was a significant increase in the flux in the pentose phosphate (PP) pathway, whereas the fluxes of reactions from acetyl-CoA to α-ketoglutarate were repressed in the presence of glutamate. We hypothesize that the increase in the PP pathway flux was caused by the decrease of citrate synthase flux through the accumulation of glycolytic intermediates. Excess NADPH produced by the PP pathway may affect the increase in cellulase production. Furthermore, the fluxes on glycolysis and the acetate formation of the cellulase-producing wild-type strain were significantly larger than that of the cellulase-producing MGB874 strain when the strains were cultured with glucose and glutamate.

Phenotypic convergence in bacterial adaptive evolution to ethanol stress

BackgroundBacterial cells have a remarkable ability to adapt to environmental changes, a phenomenon known as adaptive evolution. During adaptive evolution, phenotype and genotype dynamically changes; however, the relationship between these changes and associated constraints is yet to be fully elucidated.ResultsIn this study, we analyzed phenotypic and genotypic changes in Escherichia coli cells during adaptive evolution to ethanol stress. Phenotypic changes were quantified by transcriptome and metabolome analyses and were similar among independently evolved ethanol tolerant populations, which indicate the existence of evolutionary constraints in the dynamics of adaptive evolution. Furthermore, the contribution of identified mutations in one of the tolerant strains was evaluated using site-directed mutagenesis. The result demonstrated that the introduction of all identified mutations cannot fully explain the observed tolerance in the tolerant strain.ConclusionsThe results demonstrated that the convergence of adaptive phenotypic changes and diverse genotypic changes, which suggested that the phenotype–genotype mapping is complex. The integration of transcriptome and genome data provides a quantitative understanding of evolutionary constraints.

kdsA mutations affect FtsZ-ring formation in Escherichia coli K-12

No one has, as yet, addressed the relationship between the nature of the outer membrane and cell division. kdsA encodes 3-deoxy-D-manno-octulosonic acid (KDO) 8-phosphate synthetase which catalyses the first step in the synthesis of KDO, the linker between lipid A and oligosaccharide of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Seven temperature-sensitive mutants containing missense mutations in kdsA were affected in the production of KDO and all mutants stopped dividing at 41 degrees C and formed filaments with either one or no FtsZ ring. All observed defects were reversed by the plasmid-borne wild-type kdsA gene. Western blotting analysis, however, demonstrated that the amount of FtsZ protein was not affected by the mutation. The mutants were more susceptible to various hydrophobic materials, such as novobiocin, eosin Y and SDS at 36 degrees C. Methylene blue, however, restored kdsA mutant growth. Plasmid-borne wild-type msbA, encoding a lipid A transporter in the ABC family, partially suppressed kdsA mutation. A mutation of lpxA, functioning at the first stage in lipid A biosynthesis, inhibited both cell division and growth, producing short filaments. These results indicate that the instability of the outer membrane, caused by the defect in KDO biosynthesis, affects FtsZ-ring formation.

A Corynebacterium glutamicum rnhA recG Double Mutant Showing Lysozyme- sensitivity, Temperature-sensitive Growth, and UV-Sensitivity

Corynebacterium glutamicum mutant KY9707 was originally isolated for lysozyme-sensitivity, and showed temperature-sensitive growth. Two DNA fragments from a wild-type C. glutamicum chromosomal library suppressed the temperature-sensitivity of KY9707. These clones also rescued the lysozyme-sensitivity of KY9707, although partially. One of them encodes a protein of 382 amino acid residues, the N-terminal domain of which was homologous to RNase HI. This gene suppressed the temperature-sensitive growth of an Escherichia coli rnhA rnhB double mutant. We concluded that this gene encodes a functional RNase HI of C. glutamicum and designated it as rnhA. The other gene encodes a protein of 707 amino acid residues highly homologous to RecG protein. The C. glutamicum recG gene complemented the UV-sensitivity of E. coli recG258::kan mutant. KY9707 showed increased UV-sensitivity, which was partially rescued by either the recG or rnhA gene of C. gluamicum. Point mutations were found in both recG and rnhA genes in KY9707. These suggest that temperature-sensitive growth, UV-sensitivity, and probably lysozyme-sensitivity also, of KY9707 were caused by mutations in the genes encoding RNase HI and RecG.

Effect of malic enzyme on ethanol production by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

We investigated effects of malic enzyme on ethanol production by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 under autotrophic conditions. Deletion of me, which encodes malic enzyme, decreased ethanol production, whereas its overexpression had no effect. Our results suggest that maintaining optimal malic enzyme activity controls ethanol production by Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.

Enhancement of 1,5-diaminopentane production in a recombinant strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum by Tween 40 addition.

None of the authors of this manuscript has any financial or personal relationship with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence their work. We first determined which gene from E. coli, that is, cadA or ldcC, is effective for 1,5-diaminopentane production by C. glutamicum. The cadB gene encodes a 1,5diaminopentane transporter and constitutes the operon with the cadA gene in the E. coli genome. The CadB protein functions as both exporter and importer of 1,5diaminopentane in E. coli and the functions of this protein are dependent on the pH (Soksawatmaekhin et al., 2004). However, it is unclear whether the E. coli CadB protein functions as an exporter or importer of 1,5diaminopentane in C. glutamicum cells. Hence, the cadB gene was also introduced together with the cadA gene as an operon into C. glutamicum. The cadBA gene was amplified by a polymerase chain reaction from E. coli MG1655 genomic DNA by using KOD-plus-DNA polymerase (Toyobo Co., Osaka, Japan) and the primers 5′-TTAATGGATCCCCTCAAGTTCTCACTTACAG-3′ and 5′-GCGGCGGATCCGGTGTTTTCATGTGTTCTCC3′. The ldcC gene was also amplified using the primers 5′-CTTTTGGTACCTTATCGCCACGGTTTGAGCAG-3′ and 5 ′-AACCTGTTTGTCGACTAAACCCAGCATAACGTCTC-3′. The cadBA amplicon digested with BamHI and the ldcC amplicon digested with KpnI and SalI were subcloned into the BamHI and KpnI-SalI sites, respectively, of the E. coli-C. glutamicum shuttle vector pHT1 (Hirasawa et al., 2003). The resulting plasmids, namely, pHT1-cadBA and pHT1-ldcC, respectively, were introduced into a lysine-producing strain of C. glutamicum ATCC 13287, which is a homoserine auxotrophic mutant. For the 1,5-diaminopentane production experiments, as a preculture, each transformant was cultured in LB5G meEnhancement of 1,5-diaminopentane production in a recombinant strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum by Tween 40 addition

Glutamate Fermentation-2: Mechanism of l-Glutamate Overproduction in Corynebacterium glutamicum

The nonpathogenic coryneform bacterium, Corynebacterium glutamicum, was isolated as an L-glutamate-overproducing microorganism by Japanese researchers and is currently utilized in various amino acid fermentation processes. L-Glutamate production by C. glutamicum is induced by limitation of biotin and addition of fatty acid ester surfactants and β-lactam antibiotics. These treatments affect the cell surface structures of C. glutamicum. After the discovery of C. glutamicum, many researchers have investigated the underlying mechanism of L-glutamate overproduction with respect to the cell surface structures of this organism. Furthermore, metabolic regulation during L-glutamate overproduction by C. glutamicum, particularly, the relationship between central carbon metabolism and L-glutamate biosynthesis, has been investigated. Recently, the role of a mechanosensitive channel protein in L-glutamate overproduction has been reported. In this chapter, mechanisms of L-glutamate overproduction by C. glutamicum have been reviewed.

Enhanced dipicolinic acid production during the stationary phase in Bacillus subtilis by blocking acetoin synthesis

Bacterial bio-production during the stationary phase is expected to lead to a high target yield because the cells do not consume the substrate for growth. Bacillus subtilis is widely used for bio-production, but little is known about the metabolism during the stationary phase. In this study, we focused on the dipicolinic acid (DPA) production by B. subtilis and investigated the metabolism. We found that DPA production competes with acetoin synthesis and that acetoin synthesis genes (alsSD) deletion increases DPA productivity by 1.4-fold. The mutant showed interesting features where the glucose uptake was inhibited, whereas the cell density increased by approximately 50%, resulting in similar volumetric glucose consumption to that of the parental strain. The metabolic profiles revealed accumulation of pyruvate, acetyl-CoA, and the TCA cycle intermediates in the alsSD mutant. Our results indicate that alsSD-deleted B. subtilis has potential as an effective host for stationary-phase production of compounds synthesized from these intermediates. Graphical abstract Dipicolinic acid production in B. subtilis during the stationary phase. The deletion of alsSD enhanced the dipicolinic acid productivity by 1.4-fold.