Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization

Liang, Liya; Liu, Rongming; Foster, Kyle E. O.; Choudhury, Alaksh; Cook, Sherri; Cameron, Jeffrey; Srubar III, Wil V.; Gill, Ryan T.

doi:10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.007

Title: Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization

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Abstract

Microbial production of exogenous organic compounds is challenging as biosynthetic pathways are often complex and produce metabolites that are toxic to the hosts. Biogenic styrene is an example of this problem, which if addressed could result in a more sustainable supply of this important component of the plastics industry. In this study, we engineered Escherichia coli for the production of styrene. We systematically optimized the production capability by first screening different pathway expression levels in E. coli strains. We then further designed and constructed a transcription regulator library targeting 54 genes with 85,420 mutations, and tested this library for increased styrene resistance and production. A series of tolerant mutants not only exhibited improved styrene tolerance but also produced higher styrene concentrations compared to the parent strain. The best producing mutant, ST05 LexA_E45I, produced a 3.45-fold increase in styrene compared to the parent strain. The produced styrene was extracted via gas stripping into dodecane and used in a direct free radical synthesis of polystyrene.

Authors:

Liang, Liya ^[1]; Liu, Rongming ^[1]; Foster, Kyle E. O. ^[2]; Choudhury, Alaksh ^[3]; Cook, Sherri ^[2]; Cameron, Jeffrey ^[4]; Srubar III, Wil V. ^[2]; Gill, Ryan T. ^[3]

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Inst. (RASEI), Boulder, CO (United States)
Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Inst. (RASEI), Boulder, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); Renewable and Sustainable Energy Inst. (RASEI), Boulder, CO (United States)

Publication Date:: Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019

Research Org.:: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:: U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA); USDOE

OSTI Identifier:: 1567025

Alternate Identifier(s):: OSTI ID: 1573063

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-2700-74993
Journal ID: ISSN 1096-7176; MainId:20833;UUID:b2a43e81-08df-e911-9c26-ac162d87dfe5;MainAdminID:9309

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308

Resource Type:: Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:: Metabolic Engineering

Additional Journal Information:: Journal Volume: 57; Journal ID: ISSN 1096-7176

Publisher:: Elsevier

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

Subject:: 09 BIOMASS FUELS; 59 BASIC BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES; styrene; transcriptional regulators; genome engineering; polymerization

Citation Formats


                    Liang, Liya, Liu, Rongming, Foster, Kyle E. O., Choudhury, Alaksh, Cook, Sherri, Cameron, Jeffrey, Srubar III, Wil V., and Gill, Ryan T. Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization.  United States: N. p., 2019. 
Web.  doi:10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.007.

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                    Liang, Liya, Liu, Rongming, Foster, Kyle E. O., Choudhury, Alaksh, Cook, Sherri, Cameron, Jeffrey, Srubar III, Wil V., & Gill, Ryan T. Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization.  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.007

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                    Liang, Liya, Liu, Rongming, Foster, Kyle E. O., Choudhury, Alaksh, Cook, Sherri, Cameron, Jeffrey, Srubar III, Wil V., and Gill, Ryan T. Sun .  
"Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization".  United States.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.007.  https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1567025.

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@article{osti_1567025,

  title        = {Genome engineering of E. coli for improved styrene production and polymerization},

  author       = {Liang, Liya and Liu, Rongming and Foster, Kyle E. O. and Choudhury, Alaksh and Cook, Sherri and Cameron, Jeffrey and Srubar III, Wil V. and Gill, Ryan T.},

  abstractNote = {Microbial production of exogenous organic compounds is challenging as biosynthetic pathways are often complex and produce metabolites that are toxic to the hosts. Biogenic styrene is an example of this problem, which if addressed could result in a more sustainable supply of this important component of the plastics industry. In this study, we engineered Escherichia coli for the production of styrene. We systematically optimized the production capability by first screening different pathway expression levels in E. coli strains. We then further designed and constructed a transcription regulator library targeting 54 genes with 85,420 mutations, and tested this library for increased styrene resistance and production. A series of tolerant mutants not only exhibited improved styrene tolerance but also produced higher styrene concentrations compared to the parent strain. The best producing mutant, ST05 LexA_E45I, produced a 3.45-fold increase in styrene compared to the parent strain. The produced styrene was extracted via gas stripping into dodecane and used in a direct free radical synthesis of polystyrene.},

  doi          = {10.1016/j.ymben.2019.09.007},

  journal      = {Metabolic Engineering},

  number       = ,

  volume       = 57,

  place        = {United States},

  year         = {Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019},

  month        = {Sun Sep 01 00:00:00 EDT 2019}

}

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