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Elimination of glycerol production in anaerobic cultures of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain engineered to use acetic acid as an electron acceptor.

ABSTRACT: In anaerobic cultures of wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, glycerol production is essential to reoxidize NADH produced in biosynthetic processes. Consequently, glycerol is a major by-product during anaerobic production of ethanol by S. cerevisiae, the single largest fermentation process in industrial biotechnology. The present study investigates the possibility of completely eliminating glycerol production by engineering S. cerevisiae such that it can reoxidize NADH by the reduction of acetic acid to ethanol via NADH-dependent reactions. Acetic acid is available at significant amounts in lignocellulosic hydrolysates of agricultural residues. Consistent with earlier studies, deletion of the two genes encoding NAD-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD1 and GPD2) led to elimination of glycerol production and an inability to grow anaerobically. However, when the E. coli mhpF gene, encoding the acetylating NAD-dependent acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (EC 1.2.1.10; acetaldehyde+NAD++coenzyme A<-->acetyl coenzyme A+NADH+H+), was expressed in the gpd1Delta gpd2Delta strain, anaerobic growth was restored by supplementation with 2.0 g liter(-1) acetic acid. The stoichiometry of acetate consumption and growth was consistent with the complete replacement of glycerol formation by acetate reduction to ethanol as the mechanism for NADH reoxidation. This study provides a proof of principle for the potential of this metabolic engineering strategy to improve ethanol yields, eliminate glycerol production, and partially convert acetate, which is a well-known inhibitor of yeast performance in lignocellulosic hydrolysates, to ethanol. Further research should address the kinetic aspects of acetate reduction and the effect of the elimination of glycerol production on cellular robustness (e.g., osmotolerance).

SUBMITTER: Guadalupe Medina V

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2798634 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Elimination of glycerol production in anaerobic cultures of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain engineered to use acetic acid as an electron acceptor.

Guadalupe Medina Víctor V Almering Marinka J H MJ van Maris Antonius J A AJ Pronk Jack T JT

Applied and environmental microbiology 20091113 1

In anaerobic cultures of wild-type Saccharomyces cerevisiae, glycerol production is essential to reoxidize NADH produced in biosynthetic processes. Consequently, glycerol is a major by-product during anaerobic production of ethanol by S. cerevisiae, the single largest fermentation process in industrial biotechnology. The present study investigates the possibility of completely eliminating glycerol production by engineering S. cerevisiae such that it can reoxidize NADH by the reduction of acetic ...[more]

PMID: 19915031

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Project description:Glycerol is an eco-friendly solvent that enhances plant biomass decomposition via glycerolysis in many pretreatment methods. Nonetheless, inefficient conversion of glycerol to ethanol by natural Saccharomyces cerevisiae limits its use in these processes. In this study, we have developed an efficient glycerol-converting yeast strain by genetically modifying the oxidation of cytosolic NAD (NADH) by an O2-dependent dynamic shuttle and abolishing both glycerol phosphorylation and biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae strain D452-2, as well as by vigorous expression of whole genes in the dihydroxyacetone (DHA) pathway (Candida utilis glycerol facilitator, Ogataea polymorpha glycerol dehydrogenase, endogenous dihydroxyacetone kinase, and triosephosphate isomerase). The engineered strain showed conversion efficiencies (CE) up to 0.49 g ethanol/g glycerol (98% of theoretical CE), with a production rate of >1 g liter-1 h-1 when glycerol was supplemented in a single fed-batch fermentation in a rich medium. Furthermore, the engineered strain converted a mixture of glycerol and glucose into bioethanol (>86 g/liter) with 92.8% CE. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest reported titer of bioethanol produced from glycerol and glucose. Notably, we developed a glycerol-utilizing transformant from a parent strain which cannot utilize glycerol as a sole carbon source. The developed strain converted glycerol to ethanol with a productivity of 0.44 g liter-1 h-1 on minimal medium under semiaerobic conditions. Our findings will promote the utilization of glycerol in eco-friendly biorefineries and integrate bioethanol and plant oil industries. IMPORTANCE With the development of efficient lignocellulosic biorefineries, glycerol has attracted attention as an eco-friendly biomass-derived solvent that can enhance the dissociation of lignin and cell wall polysaccharides during the pretreatment process. Coconversion of glycerol with the sugars released from biomass after glycerolysis increases the resources for ethanol production and lowers the burden of component separation. However, low conversion efficiency from glycerol and sugars limits the industrial application of this process. Therefore, the generation of an efficient glycerol-fermenting yeast will promote the applicability of integrated biorefineries. Hence, metabolic flux control in yeast grown on glycerol will lead to the generation of cell factories that produce chemicals, which will boost biodiesel and bioethanol industries. Additionally, the use of glycerol-fermenting yeast will reduce global warming and generation of agricultural waste, leading to the establishment of a sustainable society.

Project description:BackgroundThe microbial production of succinic acid (SA) from renewable carbon sources via the reverse TCA (rTCA) pathway is a process potentially accompanied by net-fixation of carbon dioxide (CO2). Among reduced carbon sources, glycerol is particularly attractive since it allows a nearly twofold higher CO2-fixation yield compared to sugars. Recently, we described an engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain which allowed SA production in synthetic glycerol medium with a maximum yield of 0.23 Cmol Cmol-1. The results of that previous study suggested that the glyoxylate cycle considerably contributed to SA accumulation in the respective strain. The current study aimed at improving the flux into the rTCA pathway accompanied by a higher CO2-fixation and SA yield.ResultsBy changing the design of the expression cassettes for the rTCA pathway, overexpressing PYC2, and adding CaCO3 to the batch fermentations, an SA yield on glycerol of 0.63 Cmol Cmol-1 was achieved (i.e. 47.1% of the theoretical maximum). The modifications in this 2nd-generation SA producer improved the maximum biomass-specific glycerol consumption rate by a factor of nearly four compared to the isogenic baseline strain solely equipped with the dihydroxyacetone (DHA) pathway for glycerol catabolism. The data also suggest that the glyoxylate cycle did not contribute to the SA production in the new strain. Cultivation conditions which directly or indirectly increased the concentration of bicarbonate, led to an accumulation of malate in addition to the predominant product SA (ca. 0.1 Cmol Cmol-1 at the time point when SA yield was highest). Off-gas analysis in controlled bioreactors with CO2-enriched gas-phase indicated that CO2 was fixed during the SA production phase.ConclusionsThe data strongly suggest that a major part of dicarboxylic acids in our 2nd-generation SA-producer was formed via the rTCA pathway enabling a net fixation of CO2. The greatly increased capacity of the rTCA pathway obviously allowed successful competition with other pathways for the common precursor pyruvate. The overexpression of PYC2 and the increased availability of bicarbonate, the co-substrate for the PYC reaction, further strengthened this capacity. The achievements are encouraging to invest in future efforts establishing a process for SA production from (crude) glycerol and CO2.

Project description:Xylose induced effects on metabolism and gene expression during anaerobic growth of an engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae on mixed glucose-xylose medium were quantified. Gene expression of S. cerevisiae harbouring an XR-XDH pathway for xylose utilisation was analysed from early cultivation when mainly glucose was metabolised, to times when xylose was co-consumed in the presence of low glucose concentrations, and finally, to glucose depletion and solely xylose being consumed. Cultivations on glucose as a sole carbon source were used as a control. Genome-scale dynamic flux balance analysis models were developed and simulated to analyse the metabolic dynamics of S. cerevisiae in the cultivations. Model simulations quantitatively estimated xylose dependent dynamics of fluxes and challenges to the metabolic network utilisation. Increased relative xylose utilisation was predicted to induce two-directionality of glycolytic flux and a redox challenge already at low glucose concentrations. Xylose effects on gene expression were observed also when glucose was still abundant. Remarkably, xylose was observed to specifically delay the glucose-dependent repression of particular genes in mixed glucose-xylose cultures compared to glucose cultures. The delay occurred during similar metabolic flux activities in the both cultures. Xylose is abundantly present together with glucose in lignocellulosic streams that would be available for the valorisation to biochemicals or biofuels. Yeast S. cerevisiae has superior characteristics for a host of the bioconversion except that it strongly prefers glucose and the co-consumption of xylose is yet a challenge. Further, since xylose is not a natural substrate of S. cerevisiae, the regulatory response it induces in an engineered yeast strain cannot be expected to have evolved for its utilisation. Dynamic cultivation experiments on mixed glucose-xylose medium having glucose cultures as control integrated with mathematical modelling allowed to resolve specific effects of xylose on the gene expression and metabolism of engineered S. cerevisiae in the presence of varying amounts of glucose.

Dataset Information

Elimination of glycerol production in anaerobic cultures of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain engineered to use acetic acid as an electron acceptor.

Publications

Elimination of glycerol production in anaerobic cultures of a Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain engineered to use acetic acid as an electron acceptor.

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