New technology to allow microorganisms to use sugars for different purposes improves raw material productivity for polymers

January 15, 2020

Kobe University and RIKEN CSRS researchers have succeeded in improving bioproduction efficiency by metabolically engineering microorganisms to use different types of sugars for different purposes.

In bioproduction, when raw materials are used for microorganism growth and the like, productivity is reduced. Conversely, restricting growth weakens the microorganisms, leading to a reduction in overall product volume.

The group has developed a new technology called Parallel Metabolic Pathway Engineering (PMPE) that controls target production and cell growth. The technology has been successfully used to modify E. coli to improve the productivity of muconic acid, a nylon precursor.

In the future, carbon sources suitable for manufacturing can be used for manufacturing, while other carbon sources can be used to grow bacteria, which will greatly improve the productivity of aromatic compounds, pharmaceuticals and raw materials for chemical products.

Original article
Nature Communications doi:10.1038/s41467-019-14024-1
R. Fujiwara, S. Noda, T. Tanaka, A. Kondo,
"Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for shikimate pathway derivative production from glucose-xylose co-substrate".
Contact
Shuhei Noda; Research Scientist
Akihiko Kondo; Team Leader
Cell Factory Research Team