1.
New aspects of microbial vitamin K2 production by expanding the product spectrum.
Zhang, Z, Liu, L, Liu, C, Sun, Y, Zhang, D
Microbial cell factories. 2021;(1):84
Abstract
Vitamin K2 (menaquinone, MK) is an essential lipid-soluble vitamin with critical roles in blood coagulation and bone metabolism. Chemically, the term vitamin K2 encompasses a group of small molecules that contain a common naphthoquinone head group and a polyisoprenyl side chain of variable length. Among them, menaquinone-7 (MK-7) is the most potent form. Here, the biosynthetic pathways of vitamin K2 and different types of MK produced by microorganisms are briefly introduced. Further, we provide a new aspect of MK-7 production, which shares a common naphthoquinone ring and polyisoprene biosynthesis pathway, by analyzing strategies for expanding the product spectrum. We review the findings of metabolic engineering strategies targeting the shikimate pathway, polyisoprene pathway, and menaquinone pathway, as well as membrane engineering, which provide comprehensive insights for enhancing the yield of MK-7. Finally, the current limitations and perspectives of microbial menaquinone production are also discussed. This article provides in-depth information on metabolic engineering strategies for vitamin K2 production by expanding the product spectrum.
2.
Metabolic engineering strategy for synthetizing trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline in microorganisms.
Zhang, Z, Liu, P, Su, W, Zhang, H, Xu, W, Chu, X
Microbial cell factories. 2021;(1):87
Abstract
Trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is an important amino acid that is widely used in medicinal and industrial applications, particularly as a valuable chiral building block for the organic synthesis of pharmaceuticals. Traditionally, trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is produced by the acidic hydrolysis of collagen, but this process has serious drawbacks, such as low productivity, a complex process and heavy environmental pollution. Presently, trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline is mainly produced via fermentative production by microorganisms. Some recently published advances in metabolic engineering have been used to effectively construct microbial cell factories that have improved the trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline biosynthetic pathway. To probe the potential of microorganisms for trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline production, new strategies and tools must be proposed. In this review, we provide a comprehensive understanding of trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline, including its biosynthetic pathway, proline hydroxylases and production by metabolic engineering, with a focus on improving its production.
3.
Genome-scale metabolic model in guiding metabolic engineering of microbial improvement.
Xu, C, Liu, L, Zhang, Z, Jin, D, Qiu, J, Chen, M
Applied microbiology and biotechnology. 2013;(2):519-39
Abstract
In the past few decades, despite all the significant achievements in industrial microbial improvement, the approaches of traditional random mutation and selection as well as the rational metabolic engineering based on the local knowledge cannot meet today's needs. With rapid reconstructions and accurate in silico simulations, genome-scale metabolic model (GSMM) has become an indispensable tool to study the microbial metabolism and design strain improvements. In this review, we highlight the application of GSMM in guiding microbial improvements focusing on a systematic strategy and its achievements in different industrial fields. This strategy includes a repetitive process with four steps: essential data acquisition, GSMM reconstruction, constraints-based optimizing simulation, and experimental validation, in which the second and third steps are the centerpiece. The achievements presented here belong to different industrial application fields, including food and nutrients, biopharmaceuticals, biopolymers, microbial biofuel, and bioremediation. This strategy and its achievements demonstrate a momentous guidance of GSMM for metabolic engineering breeding of industrial microbes. More efforts are required to extend this kind of study in the meantime.