Using dynamic molecular switches for shikimic acid production in Escherichia coli.

Author: Jianshen HOU ¹ ; Cong GAO ¹ ; Xiulai CHEN ¹ ; Liming LIU ¹
Author Information

1. State Key Laboratory of Food Science and Technology, Jiangnan University, Wuxi 214122, Jiangsu, China.
Publication Type:Journal Article
Keywords: Escherichia coli; carbon metabolic flux regulation; molecular switch; shikimic acid
MeSH: Escherichia coli/genetics*; Escherichia coli Proteins/genetics*; Industrial Microbiology/methods*; Metabolic Engineering; Shikimic Acid/metabolism*
From: Chinese Journal of Biotechnology 2020;36(10):2104-2112
CountryChina
Language:Chinese
Abstract: Shikimic acid is an intermediate metabolite in the synthesis of aromatic amino acids in Escherichia coli and a synthetic precursor of Tamiflu. The biosynthesis of shikimic acid requires blocking the downstream shikimic acid consuming pathway that leads to inefficient production and cell growth inhibition. In this study, a dynamic molecular switch was constructed by using growth phase-dependent promoters and degrons. This dynamic molecular switch was used to uncouple cell growth from shikimic acid synthesis, resulting in the production of 14.33 g/L shikimic acid after 72 h fermentation. These results show that the dynamic molecular switch could redirect the carbon flux by regulating the abundance of target enzymes, for better production.