Microbial Factory for the Production of Polyesters: A New Platform of Corynebacterium glutamicum
Yuyang Song, John Masani Nduko, Ken'ichiro Matsumoto and Seiichi Taguchi
from: Corynebacterium glutamicum: From Systems Biology to Biotechnological Applications (Edited by: Andreas Burkovski). Caister Academic Press, U.K. (2015) Pages: 139-150.
Abstract
Corynebacterium glutamicum has been extensively employed for the industrial production of many value-added compounds such as food grade amino acids. Recently, many promising studies have focused on the engineering of this bacterial platform beyond the scope of amino acid production such as; for the production of microbial polyesters called polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), which have the potential to replace petroleum-derived plastics. Thus far, C. glutamicum has been engineered by expressing PHA synthase and related monomer supplying enzymes to produce a variety of PHAs including poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)] homopolymer and copolymers like poly[3HB-co-3-hydroxyvalerate(3HV)]. In a current hot topic, the biosynthesis of poly(lactic acid)-like polyesters has been achieved in C. glutamicum by using an engineered PHA synthase, (lactate-polymerizing enzyme: LPE). Furthermore, the arming C. glutamicum displaying a-amylase on its cell surface has provided an attractive platform for the production of the microbial polyesters from starch as a less expensive feedstock. These studies demonstrate the potential of this organism as a platform for microbial polymer factory read more ...
