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Title: Synthetic and systems biology for microbial production of commodity chemicals

Journal Article · · npj Systems Biology and Applications
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [1]
  1. Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Biological Systems and Engineering Division
  2. Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Biological Systems and Engineering Division; Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering. Dept. of Bioengineering

The combination of synthetic and systems biology is a powerful framework to study fundamental questions in biology and produce chemicals of immediate practical application such as biofuels, polymers, or therapeutics. However, we cannot yet engineer biological systems as easily and precisely as we engineer physical systems. In this review, we describe the path from the choice of target molecule to scaling production up to commercial volumes. We present and explain some of the current challenges and gaps in our knowledge that must be overcome in order to bring our bioengineering capabilities to the level of other engineering disciplines. Challenges start at molecule selection, where a difficult balance between economic potential and biological feasibility must be struck. Pathway design and construction have recently been revolutionized by next-generation sequencing and exponentially improving DNA synthesis capabilities. Although pathway optimization can be significantly aided by enzyme expression characterization through proteomics, choosing optimal relative protein expression levels for maximum production is still the subject of heuristic, non-systematic approaches. Toxic metabolic intermediates and proteins can significantly affect production, and dynamic pathway regulation emerges as a powerful but yet immature tool to prevent it. Host engineering arises as a much needed complement to pathway engineering for high bioproduct yields; and systems biology approaches such as stoichiometric modeling or growth coupling strategies are required. A final, and often underestimated, challenge is the successful scale up of processes to commercial volumes. Sustained efforts in improving reproducibility and predictability are needed for further development of bioengineering.

Research Organization:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
Contributing Organization:
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-05CH11231
OSTI ID:
1378752
Journal Information:
npj Systems Biology and Applications, Vol. 2, Issue 1; ISSN 2056-7189
Publisher:
Springer NatureCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 139 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Metabolic Engineering of Microorganisms for the Production of Natural Compounds journal July 2019
Organic waste as a sustainable feedstock for platform chemicals journal January 2017
Engineering Strategies in Microorganisms for the Enhanced Production of Squalene: Advances, Challenges and Opportunities journal March 2019
Multidimensional heuristic process for high-yield production of astaxanthin and fragrance molecules in Escherichia coli journal May 2018
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Synthetic Biology and Metabolic Engineering Approaches and Its Impact on Non-Conventional Yeast and Biofuel Production journal April 2017
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Applications of stable isotope-based metabolomics and fluxomics toward synthetic biology of cyanobacteria journal December 2019
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Effects of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus supplements on growth and biochemical composition of Podohedriella sp. (MCC44) isolated from northeast India journal December 2019
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