An efficient enzymatic synthesis of 5-aminovaleric acid

Polymers without Petrochemicals: Sustainable Routes to Conventional Monomers

Access to a wide range of plastic materials has been rationalized by the increased demand from growing populations and the development of high-throughput production systems. Plastic materials at low costs with reliable properties have been utilized in many everyday products. Multibillion-dollar companies are established around these plastic materials, and each polymer takes years to optimize, secure intellectual property, comply with the regulatory bodies such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals and the Environmental Protection Agency and develop consumer confidence. Therefore, developing a fully sustainable new plastic material with even a slightly different chemical structure is a costly and long process. Hence, the production of the common plastic materials with exactly the same chemical structures that does not require any new registration processes better reflects the reality of how to address the critical future of sustainable plastics. In this review, we have highlighted the very recent examples on the synthesis of common monomers using chemicals from sustainable feedstocks that can be used as a like-for-like substitute to prepare conventional petrochemical-free thermoplastics.

Recent advances in microbial production of diamines, aminocarboxylic acids, and diacids as potential platform chemicals and bio-based polyamides monomers

Recently, bio-based manufacturing processes of value-added platform chemicals and polymers in biorefineries using renewable resources have extensively been developed for sustainable and carbon dioxide (CO₂) neutral-based industry. Among them, bio-based diamines, aminocarboxylic acids, and diacids have been used as monomers for the synthesis of polyamides having different carbon numbers and ubiquitous and versatile industrial polymers and also as precursors for further chemical and biological processes to afford valuable chemicals. Until now, these platform bio-chemicals have successfully been produced by biorefinery processes employing enzymes and/or microbial host strains as main catalysts. In this review, we discuss recent advances in bio-based production of diamines, aminocarboxylic acids, and diacids, which has been developed and improved by systems metabolic engineering strategies of microbial consortia and optimization of microbial conversion processes including whole cell bioconversion and direct fermentative production.

Coproduction of 5-Aminovalerate and δ-Valerolactam for the Synthesis of Nylon 5 From L-Lysine in Escherichia coli

The compounds 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam are important building blocks that can be used to synthesize bioplastics. The production of 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam in microorganisms provides an ideal source that reduces the cost. To achieve efficient biobased coproduction of 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam in Escherichia coli, a single biotransformation step from L-lysine was constructed. First, an equilibrium mixture was formed by L-lysine α-oxidase RaiP from Scomber japonicus. In addition, by adjusting the pH and H₂O₂ concentration, the titers of 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam reached 10.24 and 1.82 g/L from 40 g/L L-lysine HCl at pH 5.0 and 10 mM H₂O₂, respectively. With the optimized pH value, the δ-valerolactam titer was improved to 6.88 g/L at pH 9.0 with a molar yield of 0.35 mol/mol lysine. The ratio of 5AVA and δ-valerolactam was obviously affected by pH value. The ratio of 5AVA and δ-valerolactam could be obtained in the range of 5.63:1-0.58:1 at pH 5.0-9.0 from the equilibrium mixture. As a result, the simultaneous synthesis of 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam from L-lysine in Escherichia coli is highly promising. To our knowledge, this result constitutes the highest δ-valerolactam titer reported by biological methods. In summary, a commercially implied bioprocess developed for the coproduction of 5-aminovalerate and δ-valerolactam using engineered Escherichia coli.

Production of Biopolyamide Precursors 5-Amino Valeric Acid and Putrescine From Rice Straw Hydrolysate by Engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum

The non-proteinogenic amino acid 5-amino valeric acid (5-AVA) and the diamine putrescine are potential building blocks in the bio-polyamide industry. The production of 5-AVA and putrescine using engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum by the co-consumption of biomass-derived sugars is an attractive strategy and an alternative to their petrochemical synthesis. In our previous work, 5-AVA production from pure xylose by C. glutamicum was shown by heterologously expressing xylA from Xanthomonas campestris and xylB from C. glutamicum. Apart from this AVA Xyl culture, the heterologous expression of xylA Xc and xylB Cg was also carried out in a putrescine producing C. glutamicum to engineer a PUT Xyl strain. Even though, the pure glucose (40 g L-1) gave the maximum product yield by both the strains, the utilization of varying combinations of pure xylose and glucose by AVA Xyl and PUT Xyl in CGXII synthetic medium was initially validated. A blend of 25 g L-1 of glucose and 15 g L-1 of xylose in CGXII medium yielded 109 ± 2 mg L-1 putrescine and 874 ± 1 mg L-1 5-AVA after 72 h of fermentation. Subsequently, to demonstrate the utilization of biomass-derived sugars, the alkali (NaOH) pretreated-enzyme hydrolyzed rice straw containing a mixture of glucose (23.7 g L-1) and xylose (13.6 g L-1) was fermented by PUT Xyl and AVA Xyl to yield 91 ± 3 mg L-1 putrescine and 260 ± 2 mg L-1 5-AVA, respectively, after 72 h of fermentation. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first proof of concept report on the production of 5-AVA and putrescine using rice straw hydrolysate (RSH) as the raw material.

A High-Efficiency Artificial Synthetic Pathway for 5-Aminovalerate Production From Biobased L-Lysine in Escherichia coli

Bioproduction of 5-aminovalerate (5AVA) from renewable feedstock can support a sustainable biorefinery process to produce bioplastics, such as nylon 5 and nylon 56. In order to achieve the biobased production of 5AVA, a 2-keto-6-aminocaproate-mediated synthetic pathway was established. Combination of L-Lysine α-oxidase from Scomber japonicus, α-ketoacid decarboxylase from Lactococcus lactis and aldehyde dehydrogenase from Escherichia coli could achieve the biosynthesis of 5AVA from biobased L-Lysine in E. coli. The H₂O₂ produced by L-Lysine α-oxidase was decomposed by the expression of catalase KatE. Finally, 52.24 g/L of 5AVA were obtained through fed-batch biotransformation. Moreover, homology modeling, molecular docking and molecular dynamic simulation analyses were used to identify mutation sites and propose a possible trait-improvement strategy: the expanded catalytic channel of mutant and more hydrogen bonds formed might be beneficial for the substrates stretch. In summary, we have developed a promising artificial pathway for efficient 5AVA synthesis.

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for polyamides monomer δ-valerolactam production from feedstock lysine

Nylon 5 and nylon 6,5 are recently explored as new commercial polyamides, of which the monomer includes δ-valerolactam. In this study, a novel catalytic activity of lysine 2-monooxygenase (DavB) was explored to produce δ-valerolactam from L-pipecolic acid (L-PA), functioning as oxidative decarboxylase on a cyclic compound. Recombinant Escherichia coli BS01 strain expressing DavB from Pseudomonas putida could synthesize δ-valerolactam from L-pipecolic acid with a concentration of 90.3 mg/L. Through the co-expression of recombinant apoptosis-inducing protein (rAIP) from Scomber japonicus, glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) from Bacillus subtilis, Δ¹-piperideine-2-carboxylae reductase (DpkA) from P. putida and lysine permease (LysP) from E. coli with DavB, δ-valerolactam was produced with the highest concentration of 242 mg/L. α-Dioxygenases (αDox) from Oryza sativa could act as a similar catalyst on L-pipecolic acid. A novel δ-valerolactam synthesis pathway was constructed entirely via microbial conversion from feedstock lysine in this study. Our system has great potential in the development of a bio-nylon production process. KEY POINTS: • DavB performs as an oxidative decarboxylase on L-PA with substrate promiscuity. • Strain with rAIP, GDH, DpkA, LysP, and DavB coexpression could produce δ-valerolactam. • This is the first time to obtain valerolactam entirely via biosynthesis from lysine.

Efficient whole-cell catalysis for 5-aminovalerate production from L-lysine by using engineered Escherichia coli with ethanol pretreatment

Microorganisms can utilize biomass to produce valuable chemicals, showing sustainable, renewable and economic advantages compared with traditional chemical synthesis. As a potential five-carbon platform polymer monomer, 5-aminovalerate has been widely used in industrial fields such as clothes and disposable goods. Here we establish an efficient whole-cell catalysis for 5-aminovalerate production with ethanol pretreatment. In this study, the metabolic pathway from L-lysine to 5-aminovalerate was constructed at the cellular level by introducing L-lysine α-oxidase. The newly produced H₂O₂ and added ethanol both are toxic to the cells, obviously inhibiting their growth. Here, a promising strategy of whole-cell catalysis with ethanol pretreatment is proposed, which greatly improves the yield of 5-aminovalerate. Subsequently, the effects of ethanol pretreatment, substrate concentration, reaction temperature, pH value, metal ion additions and hydrogen peroxide addition on the whole-cell biocatalytic efficiency were investigated. Using 100 g/L of L-lysine hydrochloride as raw material, 50.62 g/L of 5-aminovalerate could be excellently produced via fed-batch bioconversion with the yield of 0.84 mol/mol. The results show that a fast, environmentally friendly and efficient production of 5-aminovalerate was established after introducing the engineered whole-cell biocatalysts. This strategy, combined with ethanol pretreatment, can not only greatly enhance the yield of 5-aminovalerate but also be applied to the biosynthesis of other valuable chemicals.

Protein-Rich Biomass Waste as a Resource for Future Biorefineries: State of the Art, Challenges, and Opportunities

Protein-rich biomass provides a valuable feedstock for the chemical industry. This Review describes every process step in the value chain from protein waste to chemicals. The first part deals with the physicochemical extraction of proteins from biomass, hydrolytic degradation to peptides and amino acids, and separation of amino acid mixtures. The second part provides an overview of physical and (bio)chemical technologies for the production of polymers, commodity chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and other fine chemicals. This can be achieved by incorporation of oligopeptides into polymers, or by modification and defunctionalization of amino acids, for example, their reduction to amino alcohols, decarboxylation to amines, (cyclic) amides and nitriles, deamination to (di)carboxylic acids, and synthesis of fine chemicals and ionic liquids. Bio- and chemocatalytic approaches are compared in terms of scope, efficiency, and sustainability.

Expanding lysine industry: industrial biomanufacturing of lysine and its derivatives

l-Lysine is widely used as a nutrition supplement in feed, food, and beverage industries as well as a chemical intermediate. At present, great efforts are made to further decrease the cost of lysine to make it more competitive in the markets. Furthermore, lysine also shows potential as a feedstock to produce other high-value chemicals for active pharmaceutical ingredients, drugs, or materials. In this review, the current biomanufacturing of lysine is first presented. Second, the production of novel derivatives from lysine is discussed. Some chemicals like l-pipecolic acid, cadaverine, and 5-aminovalerate already have been obtained at a lab scale. Others like 6-aminocaproic acid, valerolactam, and caprolactam could be produced through a biological and chemical coupling pathway or be synthesized by a hypothetical pathway. This review demonstrates an active and expansive lysine industry, and these green biomanufacturing strategies could also be applied to enhance the competitiveness of other amino acid industry.

Biorefining of protein waste for production of sustainable fuels and chemicals

To mitigate the climate change caused by CO₂ emission, the global incentive to the low-carbon alternatives as replacement of fossil fuel-derived products continuously expands the need for renewable feedstock. There will be accompanied by the generation of enormous protein waste as a result. The economical viability of the biorefinery platform can be realized once the surplus protein waste is recycled in a circular economy scenario. In this context, the present review focuses on the current development of biotechnology with the emphasis on biotransformation and metabolic engineering to refine protein-derived amino acids for production of fuels and chemicals. Its scope starts with the explosion of potential feedstock sources rich in protein waste. The availability of techniques is applied for purification and hydrolysis of various feedstock proteins to amino acids. Useful lessons are leaned from the microbial catabolism of amino acids and lay a foundation for the development of the protein-based biotechnology. At last, the future perspective of the biorefinery scheme based on protein waste is discussed associated with remarks on possible solutions to overcome the technical bottlenecks.

Metabolic engineering of Corynebacterium glutamicum for enhanced production of 5-aminovaleric acid

Background

5-Aminovaleric acid (5AVA) is an important five-carbon platform chemical that can be used for the synthesis of polymers and other chemicals of industrial interest. Enzymatic conversion of l-lysine to 5AVA has been achieved by employing lysine 2-monooxygenase encoded by the davB gene and 5-aminovaleramidase encoded by the davA gene. Additionally, a recombinant Escherichia coli strain expressing the davB and davA genes has been developed for bioconversion of l-lysine to 5AVA. To use glucose and xylose derived from lignocellulosic biomass as substrates, rather than l-lysine as a substrate, we previously examined direct fermentative production of 5AVA from glucose by metabolically engineered E. coli strains. However, the yield and productivity of 5AVA achieved by recombinant E. coli strains remain very low. Thus, Corynebacterium glutamicum, a highly efficient l-lysine producing microorganism, should be useful in the development of direct fermentative production of 5AVA using l-lysine as a precursor for 5AVA. Here, we report the development of metabolically engineered C. glutamicum strains for enhanced fermentative production of 5AVA from glucose.

Results

Various expression vectors containing different promoters and origins of replication were examined for optimal expression of Pseudomonas putida davB and davA genes encoding lysine 2-monooxygenase and delta-aminovaleramidase, respectively. Among them, expression of the C. glutamicum codon-optimized davA gene fused with His₆-Tag at its N-Terminal and the davB gene as an operon under a strong synthetic H₃₆ promoter (plasmid p36davAB3) in C. glutamicum enabled the most efficient production of 5AVA. Flask culture and fed-batch culture of this strain produced 6.9 and 19.7 g/L (together with 11.9 g/L glutaric acid as major byproduct) of 5AVA, respectively. Homology modeling suggested that endogenous gamma-aminobutyrate aminotransferase encoded by the gabT gene might be responsible for the conversion of 5AVA to glutaric acid in recombinant C. glutamicum. Fed-batch culture of a C. glutamicum gabT mutant-harboring p36davAB3 produced 33.1 g/L 5AVA with much reduced (2.0 g/L) production of glutaric acid.

Conclusions

Corynebacterium glutamicum was successfully engineered to produce 5AVA from glucose by optimizing the expression of two key enzymes, lysine 2-monooxygenase and delta-aminovaleramidase. In addition, production of glutaric acid, a major byproduct, was significantly reduced by employing C. glutamicum gabT mutant as a host strain. The metabolically engineered C. glutamicum strains developed in this study should be useful for enhanced fermentative production of the novel C5 platform chemical 5AVA from renewable resources.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12934-016-0566-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Overexpression of transport proteins improves the production of 5-aminovalerate from l-lysine in Escherichia coli

Bacterial transporters mediate the exchanges between intracellular and extracellular environments. Modification of transport route could be applied to speed up the metabolic reactions and promote the production of aimed compounds. Herein, lysine 2-monooxygenase (DavB) and δ-aminovaleramidase (DavA) were co-expressed in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) to produce nylon-5 monomer 5-aminovalerate from l-lysine. Then, PP2911 (4-aminobutyrate transporter in Pseudomonas putida) and LysP (the lysine specific permease in E. coli) were overexpressed to promote 5-aminovalerate production using whole cells of recombinant E. coli. The constructed E. coli strain overexpressing transport proteins exhibited good 5-aminovalerate production performance and might serve as a promising biocatalyst for 5-aminovalerate production from l-lysine. This strategy not only shows an efficient process for the production of nylon monomers but also might be used in production of other chemicals.

Development of engineered Escherichia coli whole-cell biocatalysts for high-level conversion of l-lysine into cadaverine

A whole-cell biocatalytic system for the production of cadaverine from l-lysine has been developed. Among the investigated lysine decarboxylases from different microorganisms, Escherichia coli LdcC showed the best performance on cadaverine synthesis when E. coli XL1-Blue was used as the host strain. Six different strains of E. coli expressing E. coli LdcC were investigated and recombinant E. coli XL1-Blue, BL21(DE3) and W were chosen for further investigation since they showed higher conversion yield of lysine into cadaverine. The effects of substrate pH, substrate concentrations, buffering conditions, and biocatalyst concentrations have been investigated. Finally, recombinant E. coli XL1-Blue concentrated to an OD600 of 50, converted 192.6 g/L (1317 mM) of crude lysine solution, obtained from an actual lysine manufacturing process, to 133.7 g/L (1308 mM) of cadaverine with a molar yield of 99.90 %. The whole-cell biocatalytic system described herein is expected to be applicable to the development of industrial bionylon production process.

Enzymatic production of 5-aminovalerate from L-lysine using L-lysine monooxygenase and 5-aminovaleramide amidohydrolase

5-Aminovalerate is a potential C5 platform chemical for synthesis of valerolactam, 5-hydroxyvalerate, glutarate, and 1,5-pentanediol. It is a metabolite of l-lysine catabolism through the aminovalerate pathway in Pseudomonas putida. l-Lysine monooxygenase (DavB) and 5-aminovaleramide amidohydrolase (DavA) play key roles in the biotransformation of l-lysine into 5-aminovalerate. Here, DavB and DavA of P. putida KT2440 were expressed, purified, and coupled for the production of 5-aminovalerate from l-lysine. Under optimal conditions, 20.8 g/L 5-aminovalerate was produced from 30 g/L l-lysine in 12 h. Because l-lysine is an industrial fermentation product, the two-enzyme coupled system presents a promising alternative for the production of 5-aminovalerate.