The production of poly(3-hydroxypropionate) by recombinant Escherichia coli from glycerol

Abstract:

[Objective] In previous study, we constructed a metabolic pathway to synthesize poly(3-hydroxypropionate) (P3HP) from glycerol. But two main issues, the reducibility imbalance and plasmid loss, still remained. In order to increase the yield of P3HP, we must solve those problems. [Methods] The 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO) dehydrogenase gene was cloned from Klebsiella pneumoniae and a P3HP and 1,3-PDO co-product strains was built to solve the reducibility imbalance in cell. The genes encoding glycerol dehydrogenase and its reactivatase were inserted into the Escherichia coli chromosome by suicide vector-mediated homologous recombination to improve the stability of plasmid. [Results] After optimization of fermentation condition, our recombinant strain produced 2.7 g/L P3HP, two times higher than the previous report, and 2.4 g/L 1,3-PDO was also obtained at the same time. [Conclusion] The production of P3HP by recombinant Escherichia coli from glycerol was improved and has great potential in various industrial applications.

Key words:Poly(3-hydroxypropionate), Suicide plasmids, Homologous recombination, Genetic engineering, Recombinant Escherichia coli