ABSTRACT
5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA), a precursor for biosynthesis of pyrrole compounds in living organisms, has been widely used in agriculture and medical photodynamics therapy and is regarded as a promising value-added bio-based chemical. In the previous investigations on ALA production with recombinant Escherichia coli expressing heterogenous C4 pathway gene, LB media supplemented with glucose and ALA precursors succinate and glycine is widely used, leading to high production cost. Succinate participates in ALA biosynthesis in a form of succinyl-CoA. In this study, genes involved in succinyl-CoA consumption, sdhAB (encoding succinic dehydrogenase) or sucCD (encoding succinyl-CoA synthetase) of E. coli MG1655 was knocked out and tested for ALA accumulation. In comparison with the recombinant E. coli strain expressing heterogenous ALA synthetase, the sdhAB- or sucCD-deficient strain accumulate 25.59% and 12.40%, respectively, more ALA in a 5 L fermentor using a defined synthetic medium with glucose as main carbon source and without supplementation of succinate, providing a novel cost-effective approach for industrial production of ALA.