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Glycerol dehydratase is the key and rate-limiting enzyme in the 1,3-propanediol synthesis pathway of Klebsiella pneumoniae, which determined the producing rate and yield of 1,3-propanediol. However, the expression regulation mechanism of glycerol dehydratase gene dhaB remains poorly unknown. In this study, a histone-like nucleoid-structuring (H-NS) protein was identified and characterized as the positive transcription regulator for dhaB expression in K. pneumoniae 2e, which exhibited high tolerance against crude glycerol in our previous study. Deletion of hns gene significant ly decreased the transcription level of dhaB in K. pneumoniae 2e, which led to a remarkable defect on strain growth, glycerol dehydratase activity, and 3-hydroxypropanal production during glycerol fermentation. The transcription level of dhaB was significant ly up-regulated in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, while the inactivation of H-NS resulted in more negative effect for transcription level of dhaB in the former. Though the H-NS expression level was almost comparable in both substrates, its multimer state was reduced in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, suggesting that the oligomerization state of H-NS might have contributed for positive regulation of dhaB expression. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift and DNase I footprinting assays showed that H-NS could directly bind to the upstream promoter region of dhaB by recognizing the AT-rich region. These findings provided new insight into the transcriptional regulation mechanism of H-NS for glycerol dehydratase expression in K. pneumoniae, which might offer new target for engineering bacteria to industrially produce 1,3-propanediol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PDO) is one of the important organic chemical materials and is widely used in polyester synthesis, and it also shows great potential in medicine, cosmetics, resins, and biodegradable plastics. So far, 1,3-PDO mainly comes from chemical synthesis. However, the by-products and the side effects during chemical synthesis of 1,3-PDO bring about serious damage to the environment. In recent years, the biosynthetic pathway of 1,3-PDO has been elucidated in microorganisms. Under the action of glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) and propanediol oxidoreductase (PDOR), glycerol can be catalyzed to form 1,3-PDO through the reduction pathway. Compared to the chemical synthesis, the biosynthesis of 1,3-PDO is environmentally friendly but would face the problem of low production. To improve the yield, the native 1,3-PDO producing strains have been modified by genetic engineering, and the biosynthetic pathway has been reconstructed in the model microorganism, Escherichia coli. In this review, we summarize the research progress of the 1,3-PDO biosynthesis in microorganisms, and hopefully, it will provide reference for the renewable production of 1,3-PDO in industry.

Abstract Background The direct bioconversion of crude glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel production, into 1,3-propanediol by microbial fermentation constitutes a remarkably promising value-added applications. However, the low activity of glycerol dehydratase, which is the key and rate-limiting enzyme in the 1,3-propanediol synthetic pathway, caused by crude glycerol impurities is one of the main factors affecting the 1,3-propanediol yield. Hence, the exploration of glycerol dehydratase resources suitable for crude glycerol bioconversion is required for the development of 1,3-propanediol-producing engineered strains. Results In this study, the novel glycerol dehydratase 2eGDHt, which has a tolerance against crude glycerol impurities from Klebsiella pneumoniae 2e, was characterized. The 2eGDHt exhibited the highest activity toward glycerol, with K m and V m values of 3.42 mM and 58.15 nkat mg−1, respectively. The optimum pH and temperature for 2eGDHt were 7.0 and 37 °C, respectively. 2eGDHt displayed broader pH stability than other reported glycerol dehydratases. Its enzymatic activity was increased by Fe2+ and Tween-20, with 294% and 290% relative activities, respectively. The presence of various concentrations of the crude glycerol impurities, including NaCl, methanol, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, showed limited impact on the 2eGDHt activity. In addition, the enzyme activity was almost unaffected by the presence of an impurity mixture that mimicked the crude glycerol environment. Structural analyses revealed that 2eGDHt possesses more coil structures than reported glycerol dehydratases. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations and site-directed mutagenesis analyses implied that the existence of unique Val744 from one of the increased coil regions played a key role in the tolerance characteristic by increasing the protein flexibility. Conclusions This study provides insight into the mechanism for enzymatic action and the tolerance against crude glycerol impurities, of a novel glycerol dehydratase 2eGDHt, which is a promising glycerol dehydratase candidate for biotechnological conversion of crude glycerol into 1,3-PDO.

The redox imbalance is the major obstacle in the microbial production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP). Co-production of propanediol (PDO) and 3-HP is an effective strategy to overcome the redox imbalance issue. The biocatalyst Klebsiellapneumoniae naturally co-produces PDO and 3-HP. Its poor growth characteristics and excessive production of lipopolysaccharide hurdle its usage in industries. The objective of this study is to circumvent these constraints by isolating a novel strain of K.quasipneumoniae MSN12 (KpMSN12) from soil samples. From a numerous isolate, the new isolate KpMSN12 has produced 58 mM PDO and 4 mM 3-HP, when it was grown in shake flask under microaerobic conditions, which is higher than the control Kp109. The effect of overexpression of an aldH (KGSADH) on co-production of 3-HP and PDO from glycerol was investigated in recombinant KpMSN12 (KpMSN12K). KpMSN12K produced 45 mM of 3-HP and 30 mM PDO which was observed higher (3-HP 25 mM, PDO 28 mM) than the control strain. While over expressing dhaB in another recombinant (KpMSN12D), 3-HP was reduced to 9 mM and 11 mM PDO due to the accumulation of 3-HPA and the growth was severely hampered. In addition, combined overexpression of dhaB and aldH (KpMSN12DK) produced 33 mM 3-HP and 25 mM PDO. The lower lipopolysaccharide content in the KpMSN12 strain was confirmed by comparing 2-keto3-deoxyoctonate content (KpMSN12—3.8 µg/mL; Kp109—5.14 µg/mL). In addition, this new strain exhibited enhanced sedimentation characteristics and higher susceptibility to a variety of antibiotics when compared to Kp109 strain. These potential characteristics of KpMSN12 would shape it as a desirable host for the production of industrial chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The direct bioconversion of crude glycerol, a byproduct of biodiesel production, into 1,3-propanediol by microbial fermentation constitutes a remarkably promising value-added applications. However, the low activity of glycerol dehydratase, which is the key and rate-limiting enzyme in the 1,3-propanediol synthetic pathway, caused by crude glycerol impurities is one of the main factors affecting the 1,3-propanediol yield. Hence, the exploration of glycerol dehydratase resources suitable for crude glycerol bioconversion is required for the development of 1,3-propanediol-producing engineered strains. Results: In this study, the novel glycerol dehydratase 2eGDHt, which has a tolerance against crude glycerol impurities from Klebsiella pneumoniae 2e, was characterized. The 2eGDHt exhibited the highest activity toward glycerol, with Km and Vm values of 3.42 mM and 58.15 nkat mg−1, respectively. The optimum pH and temperature for 2eGDHt were 7.0 and 37 °C, respectively. 2eGDHt displayed broader pH stability than other reported glycerol dehydratases. Its enzymatic activity was increased by Fe2+ and Tween-20, with 294% and 290% relative activities, respectively. The presence of various concentrations of the crude glycerol impurities, including NaCl, methanol, oleic acid, and linoleic acid, showed limited impact on the 2eGDHt activity. In addition, the enzyme activity was almost unaffected by the presence of an impurity mixture that mimicked the crude glycerol environment. Structural analyses revealed that 2eGDHt possesses more coil structures than reported glycerol dehydratases. Moreover, molecular dynamics simulations and site-directed mutagenesis analyses implied that the existence of unique Val744 from one of the increased coil regions played a key role in the tolerance characteristic by increasing the protein flexibility. Conclusions: This study provides insight into the mechanism for enzymatic action and the tolerance against crude glycerol impurities, of a novel glycerol dehydratase 2eGDHt, which is a promising glycerol dehydratase candidate for biotechnological conversion of crude glycerol into 1,3-PDO. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotechnological processes at biorefineries are considered one of the most attractive alternatives for valorizing biomasses by converting them into bioproducts, biofuels, and bioenergy. For example, biodiesel can be obtained from oils and grease but generates glycerol as a byproduct. Glycerol recycling has been studied in several bioprocesses, with one of them being its conversion to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) by Clostridium. Clostridium beijerinckii is particularly interesting because it can produce a range of industrially relevant chemicals, including solvents and organic acids, and it is non-pathogenic. However, while Clostridium species have many potential advantages as chassis for synthetic biology applications, there are significant limitations when considering their use, such as their limited genetic tools, slow growth rate, and oxygen sensitivity. In this work, we carried out the overexpression of the genes involved in the synthesis of 1,3-PDO in C. beijerinckii Br21, which allowed us to increase the 1,3-PDO productivity in this strain. Thus, this study contributed to a better understanding of the metabolic pathways of glycerol conversion to 1,3-PDO by a C. beijerinckii isolate. Also, it made it possible to establish a transformation method of a modular vector in this strain, therefore expanding the limited genetic tools available for this bacterium, which is highly relevant in biotechnological applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biotechnological processes at biorefineries are considered one of the most attractive alternatives for valorizing biomasses by converting them into bioproducts, biofuels, and bioenergy. For example, biodiesel can be obtained from oils and grease but generates glycerol as a byproduct. Glycerol recycling has been studied in several bioprocesses, with one of them being its conversion to 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) by Clostridium. Clostridium beijerinckii is particularly interesting because it can produce a range of industrially relevant chemicals, including solvents and organic acids, and it is non-pathogenic. However, while Clostridium species have many potential advantages as chassis for synthetic biology applications, there are significant limitations when considering their use, such as their limited genetic tools, slow growth rate, and oxygen sensitivity. In this work, we carried out the overexpression of the genes involved in the synthesis of 1,3-PDO in C. beijerinckii Br21, which allowed us to increase the 1,3-PDO productivity in this strain. Thus, this study contributed to a better understanding of the metabolic pathways of glycerol conversion to 1,3-PDO by a C. beijerinckii isolate. Also, it made it possible to establish a transformation method of a modular vector in this strain, therefore expanding the limited genetic tools available for this bacterium, which is highly relevant in biotechnological applications.

Glycerol dehydratase is the key and rate-limiting enzyme in the 1,3-propanediol synthesis pathway of Klebsiella pneumoniae , which determined the producing rate and yield of 1,3-propanediol. However, the expression regulation mechanism of glycerol dehydratase gene dhaB remains poorly unknown. In this study, a histone-like nucleoid-structuring (H-NS) protein was identified and characterized as the positive transcription regulator for dhaB expression in K. pneumoniae 2e, which exhibited high tolerance against crude glycerol in our previous study. Deletion of hns gene significantly decreased the transcription level of dhaB in K. pneumoniae 2e, which led to a remarkable defect on strain growth, glycerol dehydratase activity, and 3-hydroxypropanal production during glycerol fermentation. The transcription level of dhaB was significantly up-regulated in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, while the inactivation of H-NS resulted in more negative effect for transcription level of dhaB in the former. Though the H-NS expression level was almost comparable in both substrates, its multimer state was reduced in crude glycerol relative to pure glycerol, suggesting that the oligomerization state of H-NS might have contributed for positive regulation of dhaB expression. Furthermore, electrophoretic mobility shift and DNase I footprinting assays showed that H-NS could directly bind to the upstream promoter region of dhaB by recognizing the AT-rich region. These findings provided new insight into the transcriptional regulation mechanism of H-NS for glycerol dehydratase expression in K. pneumoniae , which might offer new target for engineering bacteria to industrially produce 1,3-propanediol.IMPORTANCEThe biological production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by microbial fermentation shows great promising prospect on industrial application. Glycerol dehydratase catalyzes the penultimate step in glycerol metabolism and is regarded as one of the key and rate-limiting enzymes for 1,3-propanediol production. H-NS was reported as a pleiotropic modulator with negative effects on gene expression in most studies. Here, we reported for the first time that the expression of glycerol dehydratase gene is positively regulated by the H-NS. The results provide insight into a novel molecular mechanism of H-NS for positive regulation of glycerol dehydratase gene expression in K. pneumoniae , which holds promising potential for facilitating construction of engineering highly efficient 1,3-propanediol-producing strains., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) and 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) have tremendous potential markets in many industries. This study evaluated the simultaneous biosynthesis of the 2 compounds using the new psychrophile-based simple biocatalyst (PSCat) reaction system. The PSCat method is based on the expression of glycerol dehydratase, 1,3-propanediol dehydrogenase, and aldehyde dehydrogenase from Klebsiella pneumoniae in Shewanella livingstonensis Ac10 and Shewanella frigidimarina DSM 12253, individually. Heat treatment at 45 °C for 15 min deactivated the intracellular metabolic flux, and the production process was started after adding substrate, cofactor, and coenzyme. In the solo production process after 1 h, the maximum production of 3-HP was 62.0 m  m. For 1,3-PDO, the maximum production was 25.0 m  m. In the simultaneous production process, productivity was boosted, and the production of 3-HP and 1,3-PDO increased by 13.5 and 4.9 m  m , respectively. Hence, the feasibility of the individual production and the simultaneous biosynthesis system were verified in the new PSCat approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coenzyme B12-dependent glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) catalyzes the dehydration reaction of glycerol in the presence of adenosylcobalamin to yield 3-hydroxypropanal (3-HPA), which can be converted biologically to versatile platform chemicals such as 1,3-propanediol and 3-hydroxypropionic acid. Owing to the increased demand for biofuels, developing biological processes based on glycerol, which is a byproduct of biodiesel production, has attracted considerable attention recently. In this review, we will provide updates on the current understanding of the catalytic mechanism and structure of coenzyme B12-dependent GDHt, and then summarize the results of engineering attempts, with perspectives on future directions in its engineering.

Background: In their quest for sustainable development and effective management of greenhouse gas emissions, our societies pursue a shift away from fossil-based resources towards renewable resources. With 95% of our current transportation energy being petroleum based, the application of alternative, carbon-neutral products--among them biodiesel--is inevitable. In order to enhance the cost structure of biodiesel biorefineries, the valorization of the crude glycerol waste stream into high-value platform chemicals is of major importance. Results: The purpose of this study is the production of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) from biodiesel-derived crude glycerol by Lactobacillus diolivorans. Particular focus is given on overcoming potential limitations of glycerol transport into the cell, in order to use the cells' total glycerol dehydratase capability towards the formation of 3-HPA as the main product. Recombinant overexpression of the endogenous glycerol uptake facilitating protein PduF results in a significant increase of glycerol conversion by a factor of 1.3. Concomitantly, glycerol dehydratase activity increased from initially 1.70 ± 0.03 U/mg protein to 2.23 ± 0.11 U/mg protein. With this approach, an average productivity of 4.8 g3-HPA/(gCDM h) yielding up to 35.9 g/L 3-HPA and 0.91 mol3-HPA/molGlycerol have been obtained. Conclusion: Lactobacillus diolivorans proves to be a valuable cell factory for the utilization of crude glycerol delivering high-value C3 chemicals like 3-HPA, 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) and 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP). Enhancing the glycerol influx into the cell by genetic engineering was successful paving the way towards the commercial production of 3-HPA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is an important compound and precursor for a series of chemicals and polymeric materials. In this study, the 3-HP producing bacteria were constructed and studied for efficient synthesis of 3-HP. The results indicated that the instability of glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) affected the 3-HP production significantly, which was successfully solved by the expression of glycerol dehydratase reactivase (GdrB), with fivefold increase in 3-HP yield. Meanwhile, NAD-regenerating enzymes GPD1 (glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase) was expressed; however, the results showed 3-HP was significantly decreased from 56.73-4 mM, and malic acid was obviously increased. Analysis of the C flux distribution showed that the main reason for the results was the lack of NAD. The addition of NAD further increased the 3-HP production to 23.87 mM, demonstrating that the 'regeneration of NAD' was the major factor for enhancing 3-HP production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) is a pivotal enzyme for fermentative utilization of glycerol by catalyzing radical-mediated conversion of glycerol into 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA). Precise and sensitive monitoring of cellular GDHt activity during the fermentation process is a prerequisite for reliable metabolic analysis to afford efficient cellular engineering and process optimization. Here we report a new spectrophotometric assay for the sensitive measurement of the GDHt activity with a sub-nanomolar limit of detection (LOD). The assay method employs aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) as a reporter enzyme, so the readout of the GDHt activity is recorded at 340 nm as an increase in UV absorbance which results from NADH generation accompanied by oxidation of 3-HPA to 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP). The GDHt assay was performed under the reaction conditions where the ALDH activity overwhelms the GDHt activity (i.e., 50-fold higher activity of ALDH relative to GDHt activity), affording sensitive detection of GDHt with 360 pM LOD. The ALDH-coupled assay was used to determine kinetic parameters of GDHt for glycerol, leading to K M = 0.73 ± 0.09 mM and k cat = 400 ± 20 s −1 which are in reasonable agreements with the previous reports. Our assay method allowed measurement of even a 10 4 -fold decrease in the cellular GDHt activity during fermentative production of 3-HP, which demonstrates the detection sensitivity much higher than the previous methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) is a key and rate-limiting enzyme in the biological process of producing 1, 3-propanediol from glycerol. Using a uniform design to get the optimal system of amplifying dhaB1B2 by PCR, a new GDHt and its reactivase were obtained from Clostridia butyricum. SDS-PAGE showed that the relative molecular weights of the dhaB1B2 expression products were about 88 and 35 kDa, which confirmed the coexpression of dhaB1B2 in Escherichia coli BL21. The best inducing conditions, 0.1 mM IPTG, 28°C, and 11-h induction time, were obtained by the uniform design and regression analysis. By anaerobic inducible expression in E. coli BL21, the activity of GDHt activity was six times higher than in C. butyricum (2.37 U/mL), and its specific activity was 36.3 U/mg. These results and methods would be useful for effective PCR amplification on a long gene fragment, high-efficiency expression of the recombinant enzyme, and enzymatic production of 1, 3-propanediol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shimwellia blattae is an enteric bacterium and produces endogenous enzymes that convert 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PD) to 1-propanol, which is expected to be used as a fuel substitute and a precursor of polypropylene. Therefore, if S. blattae could be induced to generate its own 1,2-PD from sugars, it might be possible to produce 1-propanol from sugars with this microorganism. Here, two 1,2-PD production pathways were constructed in S. blattae, resulting in two methods for 1-propanol production with the bacterium. One method employed the L-rhamnose utilization pathway, in which L-rhamnose is split into dihydroxyacetone phosphate and 1,2-PD. When wild-type S. blattae was cultured with L-rhamnose, an accumulation of 1,2-PD was observed. The other method for producing 1,2-PD was to introduce an engineered 1,2-PD production pathway from glucose into S. blattae. In both cases, the produced 1,2-PD was then converted to 1-propanol by 1,2-PD converting enzymes, whose production was induced by the addition of glycerol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of work: The regulatory role of a transcriptional regulator (PocR) in the 1,3-propanediol biosynthetic pathway of Lactobacillus panis PM1 contributes to the optimization of 1,3-propanediol production by this strain, which potentially will lead to 1,3-propanediol manufacturing efficiencies. Lactobacillus panis PM1 can utilize a 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) biosynthetic pathway, consisting of diol dehydratase (PduCDE) and 1,3-PDO dehydrogenase, as a NADH recycling system, to survive under various environmental conditions. In this study, we identified a key transcriptional repressor (PocR) which was annotated as a transcriptional factor of AraC family as part of the 1,3-PDO biosynthetic pathway of L. panis PM1. The over-expression of the PocR gene resulted in the significant repression (81 %) of pduC (PduCDE large subunit) transcription, and subsequently, the decreased activity of PduCDE by 22 %. As a result of the regulation of PduCDE, production of both 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde and 1,3-PDO in the PocR over-expressing strain were significantly decreased by 40 % relative to the control strain. These results clearly demonstrate the transcriptional repressor role of PocR in the 1,3-PDO biosynthetic pathway. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] DO is a determining factor in the distribution of PDO and BDO. [•] A low DO could achieve a higher PDO/BDO ratio than the high DO batch. [•] High DO was beneficial to the production of BDO when using glycerol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The three gldCDE genes from Lactobacillus diolivorans, that encode the three subunits of the glycerol dehydratase, were cloned and the proteins were co-expressed in soluble form in Escherichia coli with added sorbitol and betaine hydrochloride. The purified enzyme exists as a heterohexamer (αβγ) structure with a native molecular mass of 210 kDa. It requires coenzyme B for catalytic activity and is subject to suicide inactivation by glycerol during catalysis. The enzyme had maximum activity at pH 8.6 and 37 °C. The apparent K values for coenzyme B, 1,2-ethanediol, 1,2-propanediol, and glycerol were 1.5 μM, 10.5 mM, 1.3 mM, and 5.8 mM, respectively. Together, these results indicated that the three genes gldCDE encoding the proteins make up a coenzyme B-dependent diol dehydratase and not a glycerol dehydratase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bio-based propionate attracts increasing attention owing to its green nature and specific food additive market. To date, the time-consuming and costly fermentation process by strict anaerobes makes propionate production not ideal. In this study, we designed a new route for propionate production, in which 1,2-propanediol was first dehydrated to propionaldehyde and then to propionate by taking advantage of the robust oxidization capacity of the Pseudomonas putida KT2440 strain. The high atom economy (0.97 g/g) in this proposed pathway is more advantageous than the previous l-threonine-derived route (0.62 g/g). The molecular mechanism of the extraordinary oxidation capacity of P. putida KT2440 was first deciphered. The propionate production was realized in P. putida KT2440 by screening suitable glycerol dehydratases and optimizing the expression to eliminate the formation of 1-propanol and the accumulation of the intermediate propionaldehyde. The engineered strain produced propionate with a molar conversion rate of >99% from 1,2-propanediol. A high titer of 46.5 g/L pure propionic acid with a productivity of 1.55 g/L/h and a mass yield of 0.96 g/g was achieved in fed-batch biotransformation. Thus, this study provides another idea for the production of high-purity bio-based propionate from renewable materials with high atom economy.

The dha operon of Klebsiella pneumoniae is responsible for glycerol catabolism and 1,3-propanediol formation. Subunits of glycerol dehydratase and the large subunit of glycerol dehydratase reactivating factor are encoded by dhaBCE and dhaF , respectively. Proteins of pdu operon form a microcompartment (bacteria organelle) and responsible for 1,2-propanediol catabolism. In this operon, pduCDE and pduG encode subunits of diol dehydratase and its reactivating factor. Diol dehydratase is an isofunctional enzyme of glycerol dehydratase, but its role in glycerol catabolism was not entirely clear. In this study, dhaBCE , pduCDE , dhaF , and pduG in K. pneumoniae were knocked out individually or combinedly. These strains were cultured with glycerol as a substrate, and dehydratase activities in the cytoplasm and microcompartment were detected. Results showed that glycerol dehydratase and diol dehydratase were simultaneously responsible for glycerol catabolism in K. pneumoniae. Besides being packaged in microcompartment, large amounts of diol dehydratase was also presented in the cytoplasm. However, the Pdu microcompartment reduced the accumulation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde in the fermentation broth. PduG can cross reactivate glycerol dehydratase instead of DhaF. However, DhaF is not involved in reactivation of diol dehydratase. In conclusion, diol dehydratase and Pdu microcompartment play important roles in glycerol catabolism in K. pneumoniae. • Diol dehydratase and glycerol dehydratase are simultaneously responsible for glycerol catabolism. • Large amounts of diol dehydratase were presented in the cytoplasm. • Pdu microcompartments reduce the accumulation of 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde. • PduG can cross reactivate glycerol dehydratase instead of DhaF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biosynthesis of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) typically involves two sequential reactions catalyzed by glycerol dehydratase (DhaB) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (AldH). Although plasmid-dependent over-expression of the two enzymes is common, systematic investigation of gene arrangement in vector has not been reported. Here we show that gene arrangements have a noticeable influence on 3-HP production. Using Klebsiella pneumoniae as a host, three AldH-coding genes: ald4 from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, aldh from Escherichia coli, and puuC from host K. pneumoniae, were respectively ligated to dhaB. The recombinant Kp/pET-pk- ald4- dhaB (Kp refers to as K. pneumoniae, pk is a native promoter) produced the highest yield of 3-HP in comparison to both Kp/pET-pk- dhaB- ald4 and Kp/pET-pk- dhaB-pk- ald4, suggesting that the preferential expression of AldH can increase 3-HP production. Additionally, when different AldH-coding genes were respectively ligated downstream of dhaB, the recombinant Kp/pET-pk- dhaB- puuC produced more 3-HP than that by Kp/pET-pk- dhaB- aldh or Kp/pET-pk- dhaB- ald4, implying the intrinsic compatibility of native gene puuC with its host. These findings indicate the applicability of native AldH-coding gene and provide insights into strategies for metabolic engineering of multiple genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is a valuable platform chemical that can be produced biologically from glucose or glycerol. This review article provides an overview and the current status of microbial 3-HP production. The constraints of microbial 3-HP production and possible solutions are also described. Finally, future prospects of biological 3-HP production are discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PD), an important material for chemical industry, is biologically synthesized by glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) and 1,3-propanediol dehydrogenase (PDOR). In present study, the dhaBCE and dhaT genes encoding glycerol dehydratase and 1,3-propanediol dehydrogenase respectively were cloned from Citrobacter freundii and co-expressed in E. coli. Sequence analysis revealed that the cloned genes were 85 and 77 % identical to corresponding gene of C. freundii DSM 30040 (GenBank No. U09771), respectively. The over-expressed recombinant enzymes were purified by nickel-chelate chromatography combined with gel filtration, and recombinant GDHt and PDOR were characterized by activity assay, kinetic analysis, pH, and temperature optimization. This research may form a basis for the future work on biological synthesis of 1,3-PD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is a value-added chemical for polymer synthesis. For biosynthesis of 3-HP from glycerol, two dhaB and dhaR clusters encoding glycerol dehydratase and its reactivating factor, respectively, were cloned from Lactobacillus brevis KCTC33069 and expressed in Escherichia coli. Coexpression of dhaB and dhaR allowed the recombinant E. coli to convert glycerol to 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde, an intermediate of 3-HP biosynthesis. To produce 3-HP from glycerol, fed-batch fermentation with a two-step feeding strategy was designed to separate the cell growth from the 3-HP production stages. Finally, E. coli JHS00947 expressing L .brevis dhaB and dhaR, and E. coli aldH produced 14.3g/L 3-HP with 0.26g/L-h productivity, which were 14.6 and 8.53 times higher than those of the batch culture. In conclusion, overexpression of L. brevis dhaB and dhaR clusters and E. coli aldH, and implementation of the two-step feeding strategy enabled recombinant E. coli to convert glycerol to 3-HP efficiently. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Poly(3-hydroxypropionate) (P3HP) is a biodegradable and biocompatible thermoplastic. In this study, a P3HP biosynthetic pathway from glycerol was constructed in recombinant Escherichia coli. The genes for glycerol dehydratase and its reactivating factor (dhaB123 and gdrAB, from Klebsiella pneumoniae), propionaldehyde dehydrogenase (pduP, from Salmonella typhimurium), and polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (phaC1, from Cupriavidus necator) were cloned and expressed in E. coli. After culture condition optimization, the final engineered strain accumulated 10.1g/L P3HP (46.4% of the cell dry weight) using glycerol and glucose as cosubstrates in an aerobic fed-batch fermentation. To date, this is the highest P3HP production without addition of any expensive precursor. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Este trabajo tuvo como propósito identificar secuencias de genes en clones obtenidos en una librería genómica de la cepa colombiana de Clostridium sp. IBUN 22A. Los insertos de nueve clones con tamaæos superiores a 500 pb fueron secuenciados y analizados por medio de bÅ“squedas de los insertos completos o de sus marcos abiertos de lectura (ORFs) traducidos en GenBank 141.0 y Uniprot 6.6 con BLAST 2.2.8. Se identificaron seis genes con alta similaridad a genes de metabolismo bÆsico (housekeeping) en diferentes especies de Clostridium. En el clon pBsIBUN22A-1 se localizó una secuencia de 851 pb con una identidad del 99.74% respecto al gen codificante de la enzima glicerol deshidratasa (DhaBl) de Clostridium butyricum (AY968605) involucrada en la producción de 1,3 Propanodiol (1,3-PD). La identifica­ción de genes presentes en la cepa nativa Clostridium IBUN 22A abre la puerta a la investigación básica y a la ingeniería metabólica para hacer más rentable el proceso de producción de 1,3-PD junto al conocimiento de los genes presentes en la cepa nativa. Palabras clave: análisis de secuencias, librería genómica, Clostridium, glicerol deshidratasa, 1,3-propanodiol.

Abstract: The aim of this study was to evaluate the natural producer Lactobacillus diolivorans as potential production organism of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol. Different cultivation parameters, such as oxygen supply, feeding-strategy, or medium composition have been tested in batch and fed-batch cultivations. The 1,3-propanediol concentration obtained in batch cultivations was 41.7g/l. This could be increased to 73.7g/l in a fed-batch co-feeding glucose and glycerol with a molar ratio of 0.1. Yeast extract as part of the MRS cultivation medium could be replaced by nicotinic acid and riboflavin. Furthermore, the addition of Vitamin B12 to the culture medium increased production by 15% to a final titer of 84.5g/l 1,3-propanediol. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) is a key and rate-limiting enzyme in the pathway of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) synthesis. The improvement of GDHt's stability and enzymatic activity is desirable for the biosynthesis of 1,3-PD. The gldABC gene encoding GDHt of Klebsiella pneumoniae was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli XL10-Gold, and the mutation sites of GDHt were obtained through prediction by PoPMuSiC program. Consequently, two mutants (KpG60 and KpG525) were developed by rational design through site-mutagenesis based on 3D structure which was constructed from homology modeling. Analyses of enzymatic properties showed that pH stability of the mutants was about 1.25-2 times higher than that of the wild type, and specific activity, V and K/K of KpG525 were about 1.5-2 times higher than those of the wild type. This work presented a simple and useful measure to improve the performance of industrial enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) is an important chemical widely used in polymer production, but its availability is being restricted owing to its expensive chemical synthesis. A methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha was engineered by expression of dhaB1, dhaB2, dhaB3, dhaB and dhaB encoding glycerol dehydratase complex and dhaT encoding 1,3-PD oxidoreductase from Klebsiella pneumoniae under direction of promoter of glyceraldehyde-3 phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The engineered recombinant yeast strain can produce 1,3-PD from glucose (2.4 g L) as well as glycerol (0.8 g L), which might lead to a safe and cost-effective method for industrial production of 1,3-PD from various biomass resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A biosynthetic pathway for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) from glycerol was established in recombinant Klebsiella pneumoniae by introducing the aldehyde dehydrogenase gene from Escherichia coli. The activity of aldehyde dehydrogenase, which oxidized 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) to 3-HP, was detected and 3-HP was produced by the recombinant strains. Three different oxygen supply strategies, associated with measuring the oxidoreduction potential (ORP) during the fermentation under these conditions, were adopted for higher production of 3-HP by the recombinant cells. About 0.8 g/ l 3-HP and more 1,3-propanediol production by the recombinant Klebsiella pneumoniae were obtained under completely aerobic conditions. Under micro-aerobic conditions, 3-HP production could be increased to 2.2 g/ l and 1,3-propanediol production was almost the same as in the original strain. Under the anaerobic conditions, 1,3-propanediol was the main product and about 1.3 g/ l 3-HP was produced. Finally, 3-HP production of the recombinant strain was increased to 2.8 g/ l under micro-aerobic condition with a further two-stage ORP controlled strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Synthesis of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD) from glycerol through the biotransformation process requires two steps, catalyzed by glycerol dehydratase (GDHt) and 1,3-PD oxidoreductase. GDHt is the rate-limiting enzyme in this process. All recombinant microorganisms for production of 1,3-PD so far utilized the natural genes that may not have been optimized. Two positions, which are 19.3Å and 29.6Å away from the active site in GDHt from Klebsiella pneumoniae, were subjected to saturation-mutagenesis and 38 mutants were characterized. The catalytic activity of a mutant in β-subunit (β-Q42F, 29.6Å from the active site) was 8.3-fold higher than the wild type, and the enzyme efficiency of other two mutants β-Q42L and β-Q42S for substrate glycerol was 336-fold and 80-fold higher than that for 1,2-propanediol. This investigation supplied further evidence that distant mutations could be a good source of diversity and therefore, made a contribution to the toolbox of industrial enzyme improvement. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The top-valued platform chemical, 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), has a wide range of industrial applications but its biological production is not well established. Previously, the production of 3-HP from glycerol was demonstrated using a recombinant Escherichia coli strain expressing glycerol dehydratase ( dhaB) and aldehyde dehydrogenase ( aldH). The present investigation focuses on the effect of the culture conditions on the production of 3-HP from glycerol. The physicochemical parameters, such as pH, IPTG concentration, liquid-to-flask volume ratio, and substrate concentration, were examined in flask-scale experiments and obtained the highest titer of 3-HP at 4.4 g l–1 in 48 h. When a fed-batch process was carried out in a bioreactor under pH-regulated conditions, the recombinant E. coli produced 3-HP at 31 g l–1 in 72 h with a yield of 0.35 mol mol–1 glycerol. The maximum specific rate of 3-HP production was estimated to be 3.41 mmol g–1 cdw h–1 between 12 and 24 h. Other than 3-HP, propionic acid (3.4 g l–1), 1,3-propanediol (2.4 g l–1), and lactic acid (1.6 g l–1) were produced as the major by-products. This paper reports for the first time a commercially meaningful high titer of 3-HP production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The gdh and gdhr genes, encoding B12-dependent glycerol dehydratase (GDH) and glycerol dehydratase reactivase (GDHR), respectively, in Klebsiella pneumoniae, were cloned and expressed in E. coli. Part of the β-subunit was lost during GDH purification when co-expressing α, β and γ subunit. This was overcome by fusing the β-subunit to α- or γ-subunit with/without the insertion of a linker peptide between the fusion moieties. The kinetic properties of the fusion enzymes were characterized and compared with wild type enzyme. The results demonstrated that the fusion protein GDHALB/C, constructed by linking the N-terminal of β-subunit to the C-terminal of α subunit through a (Gly4Ser)4 linker peptide, had the greatest catalytic activity. Similar to the wild-type enzyme, GDHALB/C underwent mechanism-based inactivation by glycerol during catalysis and could be reactivated by GDHR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coenzyme B12-dependent diol and glycerol dehydratases are isofunctional enzymes, which catalyze dehydration of 1, 2-diols to produce corresponding aldehydes. Although the two types of dehydratases have high sequence homology, glycerol dehydratase is a soluble cytosolic enzyme, whereas diol dehydratase is a low-solubility enzyme associated with carboxysome-like polyhedral organelles. Since both the N-terminal 20 and 16 amino acid residues of the β and γ subunits, respectively, are indispensable for the low solubility of diol dehydratase, we constructed glycerol dehydratase-based chimeric enzymes which carried N-terminal portions of the β and γ subunits of diol dehydratase in the corresponding subunits of glycerol dehydratase. Addition of the diol dehydratase-specific N-terminal 34 and 33 amino acid residues of the β and γ subunits, respectively, was not enough to lower the solubility of glycerol dehydratase. A chimeric enzyme which carries the low homology region (residues 35–60) of the diol dehydratase β subunit in addition to the diol dehydratase-specific extra-regions of β and γ subunits showed low solubility comparable to diol dehydratase, although its hydropathy plot does not show any prominent hydrophobic peaks in these regions. It was thus concluded that short N-terminal sequences are sufficient to change the solubility of the enzyme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The genes encoding glycerol dehydratase were cloned and characterized by genomic DNA from Klebsiella pneumoniae XJPD-Li, and the assigned accession number EF634063 was available from the GenBank database. The DNA sequence analysis showed that the clone included three ORFs (dhaB, dhaC and dhaE, encoding α, β and γ subunit of glycerol dehydratase, respectively). Among three subunits of glycerol dehydratase, amino acid residues H13, S193, N359, E407, and M515 of α subunit, N47, L150, V189 of β subunit are different with what had been reported. Subsequently, the expression vector was constructed and transformed into E. coli BL21, and the colony carried genes of glycerol dehydratase were selected. SDS-PAGE examination showed that the three subunits were well expressed. The specific activity of recombined glycerol dehydratase reached to 0.299Umg−1, which was about 3 times comparing with that of the wild strain. The research also displayed that both glycerol and O2 could inactive the glycerol dehydratase expressed in E. coli quickly in 10min. The inactivated glycerol dehydratase could be effectively reactivated under the system as follows: the concentration of ATP, Mg2+ and coenzyme B12 were 50mM, 10mM and 3μM, respectively, when the ratio (W/W) of glycerol dehydratase to reactivation factor was 4:1. The O2-inactivated and glycerol-inactivated dehydratase could be reactivated to 97.3% and 98.9% of initial activity in 10min in above-mentioned conditions, respectively. The reactivation factor together with ATP was considered as the “ON/OFF” reactivating condition. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]