High isoprenoid flux Escherichia coli as a host for carotenoids production.

A noncarotenogenic microbe E. coli was engineered for high production of carotenoids. To increase the isoprenoid flux, the chromosomal native promoters of the rate-controlling steps (dxs, idi and ispDispF) in the isoprenoid pathway were replaced with a strong bacteriophage T5 promoter (P(T5)) by using the λ-Red recombinase system in combination with the Flp/FRT site-specific recombination system for marker excision and P1 transduction for gene trait stacking. The resulting high isoprenoid flux E. coli can be used as a starting strain to produce various carotenoids by introducing heterologous carotenoid genes. In this study, the high isoprenoid flux E. coli was transformed with a plasmid carrying the ß-carotene biosynthetic genes from Pantoea stewartii for ß-carotene production.

Construction of the astaxanthin biosynthetic pathway in a methanotrophic bacterium Methylomonas sp. strain 16a.

Methylomonas sp. strain 16a is an obligate methanotrophic bacterium that uses methane or methanol as the sole carbon source. An effort was made to engineer this organism for astaxanthin production. Upon expressing the canthaxanthin gene cluster under the control of the native hps promoter in the chromosome, canthaxanthin was produced as the main carotenoid. Further conversion to astaxanthin was carried out by expressing different combinations of crtW and crtZ genes encoding the beta-carotenoid ketolase and hydroxylase. The carotenoid intermediate profile was influenced by the copy number of these two genes under the control of the hps promoter. Expression of two copies of crtZ and one copy of crtW led to the accumulation of a large amount of the mono-ketolated product adonixanthin. On the other hand, expression of two copies of crtW and one copy of crtZ resulted in the presence of non-hydroxylated carotenoid canthaxanthin and the mono-hydroxylated adonirubin. Production of astaxanthin as the predominant carotenoid was obtained in a strain containing two complete sets of carotenoid biosynthetic genes. This strain had an astaxanthin titer ranging from 1 to 2.4 mg g(-1) of dry cell biomass depending on the growth conditions. More than 90% of the total carotenoid was astaxanthin, of which the majority was in the form of E-isomer. This result indicates that it is possible to produce astaxanthin with desirable properties in methanotrophs through genetic engineering.

Production of tyrosine from sucrose or glucose achieved by rapid genetic changes to phenylalanine-producing Escherichia coli strains.

Escherichia coli K12 strains producing L-phenylalanine were converted to L-tyrosine-producing strains using a novel genetic method for gene replacement. We deleted a region of the E. coli K12 chromosome including the pheA gene encoding chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydratase, its leader peptide (pheL), and its promoter using a new polymerase chain reaction-based method that does not leave a chromosomal scar. For high level expression of tyrA, encoding chorismate mutase/prephenate dehydrogenase, its native promoter was replaced with the strong trc promoter. The linked DeltapheLA and Ptrc-tyrA::Kan(R) genetic modifications were moved into L-phenylalanine producing strains by generalized transduction to convert L-phenylalanine-producing strains to L-tyrosine-producing strains. Moreover, introduction of a plasmid carrying genes responsible for sucrose degradation into these strains enabled L-tyrosine-production from sucrose.

Chromosomal promoter replacement of the isoprenoid pathway for enhancing carotenoid production in E. coli.

For metabolic engineering it is advantageous in terms of stability, genetic regulation, and metabolic burden to modulate expression of relevant genes on the chromosome rather than relying on over-expression of the genes on multi-copy vectors. Here we have increased the production of beta-carotene in Escherichia coli by replacing the native promoter of the chromosomal isoprenoid genes with the strong bacteriophage T5 promoter (P(T5)). We recombined PCR fragments with the lambda-Red recombinase to effect chromosomal promoter replacement, which allows direct integration of a promoter along with a selectable marker that can subsequently be excised by the Flp/FRT site-specific recombination system. The resulting promoter-engineered isoprenoid genes were combined by serial P1 transductions into a host strain harboring a reporter plasmid containing beta-carotene biosynthesis genes allowing a visual screen for yellow color indicative of beta-carotene accumulation. Construction of an E. coli P(T5)-dxs P(T5)-ispDispF P(T5)-idi P(T5)-ispB strain resulted in producing high titers (6mg/g dry cell weight) of beta-carotene. Surprisingly, over-expression of the ispB gene, which was expected to divert carbon flow from the isoprenoid pathway to quinone biosynthesis, resulted in increased beta-carotene production. We thus demonstrated that chromosomal promoter engineering of the endogenous isoprenoid pathway yielded high levels of beta-carotene in a non-carotenogenic E. coli. The high isoprenoid flux E. coli can be used as a starting strain to produce various carotenoids by introducing heterologous carotenoid genes.