Toward engineering E. coli with an autoregulatory system for lignin valorization

Journal Article · 01 March 2018 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1720129115 · OSTI ID:1423513

Wu, Weihua ^[1]; Liu, Fang ^[1]; Singh, Seema ^[2]

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1. Biomass Science &, Conversion Technologies Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550,
2. Biomass Science &, Conversion Technologies Department, Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA 94550,, Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608,, Department of Bioproducts and Biosystems Engineering, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN 55108

Significance Lignin valorization is critical for economic viability of future biorefineries but is hindered due to the challenges of engineered bio-chassis such as the slow kinetics of substrate uptake, aromatics toxicity, and cost. Here, an autoregulatory system involving a vanillin autoinducible promoter is demonstrated with an aromatics transporter in Escherichia coli that is induced by lignin-derived aromatics and simultaneously converted to value-added platform chemical with diverse applications. In addition to alleviating toxicity, the engineered E. coli strain eliminates the need for an external inducer such as isopropyl β- d -1-thiogalactopyranoside during fermentation, thereby significantly reducing the process cost. This study demonstrates an autoregulatory system for aromatics bioconversion and serves as a platform for future strain development for lignin valorization.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1423513
• Journal Information: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Journal Name: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 115; ISSN 0027-8424
• Publisher: Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesCopyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English