Expanding the modular ester fermentative pathways for combinatorial biosynthesis of esters from volatile organic acids
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Tennessee Knoxville Tennessee, BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge Tennessee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering University of Tennessee Knoxville Tennessee, BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) Oak Ridge National Laboratory Oak Ridge Tennessee, Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education University of Tennessee Knoxville Tennessee
ABSTRACT Volatile organic acids are byproducts of fermentative metabolism, for example, anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic biomass or organic wastes, and are often times undesired inhibiting cell growth and reducing directed formation of the desired products. Here, we devised a general framework for upgrading these volatile organic acids to high‐value esters that can be used as flavors, fragrances, solvents, and biofuels. This framework employs the acid‐to‐ester modules, consisting of an AAT (alcohol acyltransferase) plus ACT (acyl CoA transferase) submodule and an alcohol submodule, for co‐fermentation of sugars and organic acids to acyl CoAs and alcohols to form a combinatorial library of esters. By assembling these modules with the engineered Escherichia coli modular chassis cell, we developed microbial manufacturing platforms to perform the following functions: (i) rapid in vivo screening of novel AATs for their catalytic activities; (ii) expanding combinatorial biosynthesis of unique fermentative esters; and (iii) upgrading volatile organic acids to esters using single or mixed cell cultures. To demonstrate this framework, we screened for a set of five unique and divergent AATs from multiple species, and were able to determine their novel activities as well as produce a library of 12 out of the 13 expected esters from co‐fermentation of sugars and (C2‐C6) volatile organic acids. We envision the developed framework to be valuable for in vivo characterization of a repertoire of not‐well‐characterized natural AATs, expanding the combinatorial biosynthesis of fermentative esters, and upgrading volatile organic acids to high‐value esters. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 1764–1776. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- Grant/Contract Number:
- DE‐AC05‐000R22725
- OSTI ID:
- 1401182
- Journal Information:
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Journal Name: Biotechnology and Bioengineering Vol. 113 Journal Issue: 8; ISSN 0006-3592
- Publisher:
- Wiley Blackwell (John Wiley & Sons)Copyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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