Metabolic Engineering of Microorganisms for Oligosaccharide and Polysaccharide Production
Anne Ruffing and Rachel Ruizhen Chen
from: Microbial Production of Biopolymers and Polymer Precursors: Applications and Perspectives (Edited by: Bernd H. A. Rehm). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2009)
Abstract
Microorganisms naturally produce a wide variety of carbohydrate molecules, yet large-scale manufacturing requires production levels much higher than the natural capacities of these organisms. Metabolic engineering efforts generate microbial strains capable of meeting the industrial demand for high synthesis levels. This chapter reviews the achievements and challenges of engineering microorganisms to produce two categories of carbohydrates: oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. As both oligosaccharide and polysaccharide synthesis are carbon and energy-intensive processes, improved production of these products require similar metabolic engineering strategies. Strategies unique to polysaccharide synthesis are also discussed. Metabolically engineered strains have successfully produced many carbohydrate products, and many unexplored strategies, made available from recent progress in systems biology, can be used to engineer even better microbial catalysts read more ...
