Engineering E. coli for triglyceride accumulation through native and heterologous metabolic reactions

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology
Joanna RuckerKyongbum Lee

Abstract

Triglycerides, traditionally sourced from plant oils, are heavily used in both industrial and healthcare applications. Commercially significant products produced from triglycerides include biodiesel, lubricants, moisturizers, and oils for cooking and dietary supplements. The need to rely upon plant-based production, however, raises concerns of increasing demand and sustainability. The reliance on crop yields and a strong demand for triglycerides provides motivation to engineer production from a robust microbial platform. In this study, Escherichia coli was engineered to synthesize and accumulate triglycerides. Triglycerides were produced from cell wall phospholipid precursors through engineered expression of two enzymes, phosphatidic acid phosphatase (PAP) and diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGAT). A liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) method was developed to analyze the production of triglycerides by the engineered E. coli strains. This proof-of-concept study demonstrated a yield of 1.1 mg/L triglycerides (2 g/L dry cell weight) in lysogeny broth medium containing 5 g/L glucose at 8 h following induction of PAP and DGAT expression. LC-MS results also demonstrated that the intracellular triglyceride composition of E...Continue Reading

References

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Feb 8, 2006·Applied and Environmental Microbiology·Rainer KalscheuerAlexander Steinbüchel
Mar 29, 2008·Journal of Lipid Research·Yong-Mei Zhang, Charles O Rock
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Aug 13, 2011·Nature·Clementina DellomonacoRamon Gonzalez

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Citations

Jan 11, 2014·Biotechnology for Biofuels·Helge Jans Janßen, Alexander Steinbüchel
Dec 10, 2015·Metabolic Engineering·Jens PlassmeierAnthony J Sinskey
Jan 8, 2015·Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology·Ai-Qun YuMatthew Wook Chang

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