High-yield production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by metabolically engineered Klebsiella pneumoniae

Jung Hun Lee, Moo Young Jung, Min Kyu Oh

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    61 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: Glycerol is a major byproduct of the biodiesel industry and can be converted to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) by microorganisms through a two-step enzymatic reaction. The production of 1,3-PDO from glycerol using microorganisms is accompanied by formation of unwanted byproducts, including lactate and 2,3-butanediol, resulting in a low-conversion yield. Results: Klebsiella pneumoniae was metabolically engineered to produce high-molar yield of 1,3-PDO from glycerol. First, the pathway genes for byproduct formation were deleted in K. pneumoniae. Then, glycerol assimilation pathways were eliminated and mannitol was co-fed to the medium. Finally, transcriptional regulation of the dha operon were genetically modified for enhancing 1,3-propanediol production. The batch fermentation of the engineered strain with co-feeding of a small amount of mannitol yielded 0.76 mol 1,3-PDO from 1 mol glycerol. Conclusions: Klebsiella pneumoniae is useful microorganism for producing 1,3-PDO from glycerol. Implemented engineering in this study successfully improved 1,3-PDO production yield, which is significantly higher than those reported in previous studies.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number104
    JournalBiotechnology for Biofuels
    Volume11
    Issue number1
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2018 Apr 9

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2018 The Author(s).

    Keywords

    • 1, 3-PDO
    • Byproducts
    • Co-substrate
    • Glycerol
    • Glycerol assimilation pathway
    • Klebsiella pneumoniae
    • Mannitol
    • dha operon

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biotechnology
    • Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
    • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
    • General Energy
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'High-yield production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by metabolically engineered Klebsiella pneumoniae'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this