Paper

Engineering Biocatalysts for Production of Commodity Chemicals
K.T. Shanmugam, L.O. Ingram

Department of Microbiology and Cell Science, University of Florida, Gainesville, Fla., USA

Address of Corresponding Author

J Mol Microbiol Biotechnol 2008;15:8-15 (DOI: 10.1159/000111988)

  Key Words

• Biocatalysts
• Lactic acid
• Succinic acid
• Acetic acid
• Redox
• Bioconversion

  Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass is an attractive alternate to petroleum for production of both fuels and commodity chemicals. This conversion of biomass would require a new generation of microbial biocatalysts that can convert all the sugars present in the biomass to the desired compounds. In this review, the critical factors that need to be considered in engineering such microbial biocatalysts for cost-effective fermentation of sugars are discussed with specific emphasis on commodity chemicals such as lactic acid, succinic acid and acetic acid.

Copyright © 2008 S. Karger AG, Basel

  References

1.

Alam KY, Clark DP: Anaerobic fermentation balance of Escherichia coli as observed by in vivo nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. J Bacteriol 1989;171:6213-6217.

2.

Bernhard TH, Gottschalk G: Cell yields of Escherichia coli during anaerobic growth on fumarate and molecular hydrogen. Arch Microbiol 1978;116:235-238.

3.

Bothast RJ, Schlicher MA: Biotechnological processes for conversion of corn into ethanol. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2005;67:19-25.

4.

Causey TB, Zhou S, Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO: Engineering the metabolism of Escherichia coli W3110 for the conversion of sugar to redox-neutral and oxidized products: homoacetate production. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2003;100:825-832.

5.

Chang DE, Jung HC, Rhee JS, Pan JG: Homofermentative production of D- or L-lactate in metabolically engineered Escherichia coli RR1. Appl Environ Microbiol 1999;65:1384-1389.

6.

Chapman AG, Fall L, Atkinson DE: Adenylate energy charge in Escherichia coli during growth and starvation. J Bacteriol 1971;108:1072-1086.

7.

Clark DP: The fermentation pathways of Escherichia coli. FEMS Microbiol Rev 1989;5:223-234.

8.

Collet C, Schwitzguebel JP, Peringer P: Improvement of acetate production from lactose by growing Clostridium thermolacticum in mixed batch culture. J Appl Microbiol 2003;95:824-831.

9.

Cselovszky J, Wolf G, Hammes WP: Production of formate, acetate, and succinate by anaerobic fermentation of Lactobacillus pentosus in the presence of citrate. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 1992;37:94-97.

10.

Datta R, Henry M: Lactic acid: recent advances in products, processes and technologies - a review. J Chem Technol Biotechnol 2006;81:1119-1129.

11.

Dien BS, Nichols NN, Bothast RJ: Fermentation of sugar mixtures using Escherichia coli catabolite repression mutants engineered for production of L-lactic acid. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2002;29:221-227.

12.

Drake HL, Daniel SL: Physiology of the thermophilic acetogen Moorella thermoacetica. Res Microbiol 2004;155:869-883.

13.

Dukes JS: Burning buried sunshine: human consumption of ancient solar energy. Climatic Change 2003;61:31-44.

14.

Garde A, Jonsson G, Schmidt AS, Ahring BK: Lactic acid production from wheat straw hemicellulose hydrolysate by Lactobacillus pentosus and Lactobacillus brevis. Bioresour Technol 2002;81:217-223.

15.

Garrigues C, Loubiere P, Lindley ND, Cocaign-Bousquet M: Control of the shift from homolactic acid to mixed-acid fermentation in Lactococcus lactis: predominant role of the NADH/NAD⁺ ratio. J Bacteriol 1997;179:5282-5287.

16.

Grabar TB, Zhou S, Shanmugam KT, Yomano LP, Ingram LO: Methylglyoxal bypass identified as source of chiral contamination in L(+) and D(-)-lactate fermentations by recombinant Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Lett 2006;28:1527-1535.

17.

Hahn-Hagerdal B, Galbe M, Gorwa-Grauslund MF, Liden G, Zacchi G: Bio-ethanol - the fuel of tomorrow from the residues of today. Trends Biotechnol 2006;24:549-556.

18.

Hasona A, Kim Y, Healy FG, Ingram LO, Shanmugam KT: Pyruvate formate lyase and acetate kinase are essential for anaerobic growth of Escherichia coli on xylose. J Bacteriol 2004;186:7593-7600.

19.

Hernandez-Montalvo V, Martinez A, Hernandez-Chavez G, Bolivar F, Valle F, Gosset G: Expression of galP and glk in a Escherichia coli PTS mutant restores glucose transport and increases glycolytic flux to fermentation products. Biotechnol Bioeng 2003;83:687-694.

20.

Hofvendahl K, Hans-Hagerdal B: Factors affecting the fermentative lactic acid production from renewable resources. Enzyme Microb Technol 2000;26:87-107.

21.

Huang YL, Mann K, Novak JM, Yang ST: Acetic acid production from fructose by Clostridium formicoaceticum immobilized in a fibrous-bed bioreactor. Biotechnol Prog 1998;14:800-806.

22.

Jones DT, Woods DR: Acetone-butanol fermentation revisited. Microbiol Rev 1986;50:484-524.

23.

Kheshgi HS, Prince RC, Marland G: The potential of biomass fuels in the context of global climate change: focus on transportation fuels. Annu Rev Energy Environ 2000;25:199-244.

24.

Koebmann BJ, Westerhoff HV, Snoep JL, Nilsson D, Jensen PR: The glycolytic flux in Escherichia coli is controlled by the demand for ATP. J Bacteriol 2002;184:3909-3916.

25.

Lee PC, Lee SY, Hong SH, Chang HN: Isolation and characterization of a new succinic acid-producing bacterium, Mannheima succiniproducens MBEL55E, from bovine rumen. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2002;58:663-668.

26.

Lee PC, Lee SY, Hong SH, Chang HN, Park SC: Biological conversion of wood hydrolysate to succinic acid by Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens. Biotechnol Lett 2003;25:111-114.

27.

Lee PC, Lee WG, Kwon S, Lee SY, Chang HN: Succinic acid production by Anaerobiospirillum succiniciproducens: effects of the H₂ CO₂ supply and glucose concentration. Enzyme Microb Technol 1999;24:549-554.

28.

Lee SJ, Song H, Lee SY: Genome-based metabolic engineering of Mannheimia succiniciproducens for succinic acid production. Appl Environ Microbiol 2006;72:1939-1948.

29.

Lin H, Bennett GN, San KY: Fed-batch culture of a metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strain designed for high-level succinate production and yield under aerobic conditions. Biotechnol Bioeng 2005;90:775-779.

30.

Lynd LR, van Zyl WH, McBride JE, Laser M: Consolidated bioprocessing of cellulosic biomass: an update. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2005;16:577-583.

31.

McKinlay JB, Zeikus JG, Vieille C: Insights into Actinobacillus succinogenes fermentative metabolism in a chemically defined growth medium. Appl Environ Microbiol 2005;71:6651-6656.

32.

Melchiorsen CR, Jensen NB, Christensen B, Vaever Jokumsen K, Villadsen J: Dynamics of pyruvate metabolism in Lactococcus lactis. Biotechnol Bioeng 2001;74:271-279.

33.

Melchiorsen CR, Jokumsen KV, Villadsen J, Israelsen H, Arnau J: The level of pyruvate-formate lyase controls the shift from homolactic to mixed-acid product formation in Lactococcus lactis. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2002;58:338-344.

34.

Narayanan N, Roychoudhury PK, Srivastava A: L(+) lactic acid fermentation and its product polymerization. Electronic J Biotechnol 2004;7:167-179.

35.

Patel MA, Ou MS, Harbrucker R, Aldrich HC, Buszko ML, Ingram LO, Shanmugam KT: Isolation and characterization of acid-tolerant, thermophilic bacteria for effective fermentation of biomass-derived sugars to lactic acid. Appl Environ Microbiol 2006;72:3228-3235.

36.

Patnaik R, Roof WD, Young RF, Liao JC: Stimulation of glucose catabolism in Escherichia coli by a potential futile cycle. J Bacteriol 1992;174:7527-7532.

37.

Pieterse B, Leer RJ, Schuren FH, van der Werf MJ: Unravelling the multiple effects of lactic acid stress on Lactobacillus plantarum by transcription profiling. Microbiology 2005;151:3881-3894.

38.

Ragauskas AJ, Williams CK, Davison BH, Britovsek G, Cairney J, Eckert CA, Frederick WJ, Jr., Hallett JP, Leak DJ, Liotta CL, Mielenz JR, Murphy R, Templer R, Tschaplinski T: The path forward for biofuels and biomaterials. Science 2006;311:484-489.

39.

Sanchez AM, Bennett GN, San KY: Novel pathway engineering design of the anaerobic central metabolic pathway in Escherichia coli to increase succinate yield and productivity. Metab Eng 2005;7:229-239.

40.

Singh SK, Ahmed SU, Pandey A: Metabolic engineering approaches for lactic acid production. Process Biochem 2006;41:991-1000.

41.

Song H, Lee SY: production of succinic acid by bacterial fermentation. Enzyme Microb Technol 2006;39:352-361.

42.

Stouthamer AH: Energetic aspects of the growth of micro-organisms. Symp Soc Gen Microbiol 1977;27:285-315.

43.

Takeshige K, Ouchi K: Reconstruction of ethanol fermentation in permeabilized cells of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Ferm Bioeng 1995;79:11-16.

44.

Talabardon M, Schwitzguebel JP, Peringer P, Yang ST: Acetic acid production from lactose by an anaerobic thermophilic coculture immobilized in a fibrous-bed bioreactor. Biotechnol Prog 2000;16:1008-1017.

45.

Tammali R, Seenayya G, Reddy G: Fermentation of cellulose to acetic acid by Clostridium lentocellum SG6: induction of sporulation and effect of buffering agent on acetic acid production. Lett Appl Microbiol 2003;37:304-308.

46.

Tanaka K, Komiyama A, Sonomoto K, Ishizaki A, Hall SJ, Stanbury PE: Two different pathways for D-xylose metabolism and the effect of xylose concentration on the yield coefficient of L-lactate in mixed-acid fermentation by the lactic acid bacterium Lactococcus lactis IO-1. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2002;60:160-167.

47.

Tempest DW, Neijssel OM: The status of Y_ATP and maintenance energy as biologically interpretable phenomena. Annu Rev Microbiol 1984;38:459-486.

48.

Underwood SA, Buszko ML, Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO: Flux through citrate synthase limits the growth of ethanologenic Escherichia coli KO11 during xylose fermentation. Appl Environ Microbiol 2002;68:1071-1081.

49.

Wyman CE: Potential synergies and challenges in refining cellulosic biomass to fuels, chemicals, and power. Biotechnol Prog 2003;19:254-262.

50.

Zhou S, Causey TB, Hasona A, Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO: Production of optically pure D-lactic acid in mineral salts medium by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli W3110. Appl Environ Microbiol 2003a;69:399-407.

51.

Zhou S, Grabar TB, Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO: Betaine tripled the volumetric productivity of D(-)-lactate by Escherichia coli strain SZ132 in mineral salts medium. Biotechnol Lett 2006;28:671-676.

52.

Zhou S, Shanmugam KT, Ingram LO: Functional replacement of the Escherichia coliD-(-)-lactate dehydrogenase gene (ldhA) with the L-(+)-lactate dehydrogenase gene (ldhL) from Pediococcus acidilactici. Appl Environ Microbiol 2003b;69:2237-2244.

53.

Zhu J, Shimizu K: The effect of pfl gene knockout on the metabolism for optically pure D-lactate production by Escherichia coli. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2004;64:367-375.

  Author Contacts

K.T. Shanmugam
Department of Microbiology and Cell Science
University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 32611 (USA)
Tel. +1 352 392 2490, Fax +1 352 392 5922, E-Mail shan@ufl.edu

  Article Information

Published online: March 14, 2008
Number of Print Pages : 8
Number of Figures : 3, Number of Tables : 1, Number of References : 53

  Publication Details

Journal of Molecular Microbiology and Biotechnology

Vol. 15, No. 1, Year 2008 (Cover Date: March 2008)

Journal Editor: Saier Jr. M.H. (La Jolla, Calif.)
ISSN: 1464-1801 (Print), eISSN: 1660-2412 (Online)

For additional information: http://www.karger.com/MMB

  Drug Dosage / Copyright

Drug Dosage: The authors and the publisher have exerted every effort to ensure that drug selection and dosage set forth in this text are in accord with current recommendations and practice at the time of publication. However, in view of ongoing research, changes in goverment regulations, and the constant flow of information relating to drug therapy and drug reactions, the reader is urged to check the package insert for each drug for any changes in indications and dosage and for added warnings and precautions. This is particularly important when the recommended agent is a new and/or infrequently employed drug. Copyright: All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be translated into other languages, reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, microcopying, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher or, in the case of photocopying, direct payment of a specified fee to the Copyright Clearance Center.