Production of 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol in engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum

Michael Vogt, Christian Brüsseler, Jan van Ooyen, Michael Bott, Jan Marienhagen*

*Corresponding author for this work

Abstract

The pentanol isomers 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol represent commercially interesting alcohols due to their potential application as biofuels. For a sustainable microbial production of these compounds, Corynebacterium glutamicum was engineered for producing 2-methyl-1-butanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol via the Ehrlich pathway from 2-keto-3-methylvalerate and 2-ketoisocaproate, respectively. In addition to an already available 2-ketoisocaproate producer, a 2-keto-3-methylvalerate accumulating C. glutamicum strain was also constructed. For this purpose, we reduced the activity of the branched-chain amino acid transaminase in an available C. glutamicuml-isoleucine producer (K2P55) via a start codon exchange in the ilvE gene enabling accumulation of up to 3.67g/l 2-keto-3-methylvalerate. Subsequently, nine strains expressing different gene combinations for three 2-keto acid decarboxylases and three alcohol dehydrogenases were constructed and characterized. The best strains accumulated 0.37g/l 2-methyl-1-butanol and 2.76g/l 3-methyl-1-butanol in defined medium within 48h under oxygen deprivation conditions, making these strains ideal candidates for additional strain and process optimization.

Original languageEnglish
JournalMetabolic engineering
Volume38
Pages (from-to)436-445
Number of pages10
ISSN1096-7176
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 11.2016
Externally publishedYes

DFG Research Classification Scheme

  • 2.11-01 Biochemistry

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