Coordinated regulation of gnd, which encodes 6-phosphogluconate dehydrogenase, by the two transcriptional regulators GntR1 and RamA in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Synergistic improvement of N-acetylglucosamine production by engineering transcription factors and balancing redox cofactors

The regulation of single gene transcription level in the metabolic pathway is often failed to significantly improve the titer of the target product, and even leads to the imbalance of carbon/nitrogen metabolic network and cofactor network. Global transcription machinery engineering (gTME) can activate or inhibit the synergistic expression of multiple genes in specific metabolic pathways, so transcription factors with specific functions can be expressed according to different metabolic regulation requirements, thus effectively increasing the synthesis of target metabolites. In addition, maintaining intracellular redox balance through cofactor engineering can realize the self-balance of cofactors and promote the efficient synthesis of target products. In this study, we rebalanced the central carbon/nitrogen metabolism and redox metabolism of Corynebacterium glutamicum S9114 by gTME and redox cofactors engineering to promote the production of the nutraceutical N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc). Firstly, it was found that the overexpression of the transcription factor RamA can promote GlcNAc synthesis, and the titer was further improved to 16 g/L in shake flask by using a mutant RamA (RamAM). Secondly, a CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) system based on dCpf1 was developed and used to inhibit the expression of global negative transcriptional regulators of GlcNAc synthesis, which promoted the GlcNAc titer to 27.5 g/L. Thirdly, the cofactor specificity of the key enzymes in GlcNAc synthesis pathway was changed by rational protein engineering, and the titer of GlcNAc in shake flask was increased to 36.9 g/L. Finally, the production of GlcNAc was scaled up in a 50-L fermentor, and the titer reached 117.1 ± 1.9 g/L, which was 6.62 times that of the control group (17.7 ± 0.4 g/L), and the yield was increased from 0.19 g/g to 0.31 g/g glucose. The results obtained here highlight the importance of engineering the global regulation of central carbon/nitrogen metabolism and redox metabolism to improve the production performance of microbial cell factories.

The ldhA Gene Encoding Fermentative l-Lactate Dehydrogenase in Corynebacterium Glutamicum Is Positively Regulated by the Global Regulator GlxR

Bacterial metabolism shifts from aerobic respiration to fermentation at the transition from exponential to stationary growth phases in response to limited oxygen availability. Corynebacterium glutamicum, a Gram-positive, facultative aerobic bacterium used for industrial amino acid production, excretes l-lactate, acetate, and succinate as fermentation products. The ldhA gene encoding l-lactate dehydrogenase is solely responsible for l-lactate production. Its expression is repressed at the exponential phase and prominently induced at the transition phase. ldhA is transcriptionally repressed by the sugar-phosphate-responsive regulator SugR and l-lactate-responsive regulator LldR. Although ldhA expression is derepressed even at the exponential phase in the sugR and lldR double deletion mutant, a further increase in its expression is still observed at the stationary phase, implicating the action of additional transcription regulators. In this study, involvement of the cAMP receptor protein-type global regulator GlxR in the regulation of ldhA expression was investigated. The GlxR-binding site found in the ldhA promoter was modified to inhibit or enhance binding of GlxR. The ldhA promoter activity and expression of ldhA were altered in proportion to the binding affinity of GlxR. Similarly, l-lactate production was also affected by the binding site modification. Thus, GlxR was demonstrated to act as a transcriptional activator of ldhA.

The glucose uptake systems in Corynebacterium glutamicum: a review

The phosphoenolpyruvate-dependent glucose phosphotransferase system (PTS^Glc) is the major uptake system responsible for transporting glucose, and is involved in glucose translocation and phosphorylation in Corynebacterium glutamicum. For the longest time, the PTS^Glc was considered as the only uptake system for glucose. However, some PTS-independent glucose uptake systems (non-PTS^Glc) were discovered in recent years, such as the coupling system of inositol permeases and glucokinases (IPGS) and the coupling system of β-glucoside-PTS permease and glucokinases (GPGS). The products (e.g. lysine, phenylalanine and leucine) will be increased because of the increasing intracellular level of phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), while some by-products (e.g. lactic acid, alanine and acetic acid) will be reduced when this system become the main uptake pathway for glucose. In this review, we survey the uptake systems for glucose in C. glutamicum and their composition. Furthermore, we summarize the latest research of the regulatory mechanisms among these glucose uptake systems. Detailed strategies to manipulate glucose uptake system are addressed based on this knowledge.

Native promoters of Corynebacterium glutamicum and its application in L-lysine production

OBJECTIVE

To identify useful native promoters of Corynebacterium glutamicum for fine-tuning of gene expression in metabolic engineering.

RESULTS

Sixteen native promoters of C. glutamicum were characterized. These promoters covered a strength range of 31-fold with small increments and exhibited relatively stable activity during the whole growth phase using β-galactosidase as the reporter. The mRNA level and enzymatic activity of the lacZ reporter gene exhibited high correlation (R ² = 0.96) under the control of these promoters. Sequence analysis found that strong promoters had high similarity of the -10 hexamer to the consensus sequence and preference of the AT-rich UP element upstream the -35 region. To test the utility of the promoter library, the characterized native promoters were applied to modulate the sucCD-encoded succinyl-CoA synthetase expression for L-lysine overproduction.

CONCLUSIONS

The native promoters with various strengths realize the efficient and precise regulation of gene expression in metabolic engineering of C. glutamicum.

Regulation of the Expression of De Novo Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Genes in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Expression of pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis is downregulated by an exogenous uracil in many bacteria. In this study, we show that a putative binding motif sequence of PyrR is required for uracil-mediated repression of pyrR-lacZ translational fusion. However, the uracil response was still observed in the strain with the pyrR gene deleted, implying the existence of a uracil response factor other than PyrR which also acts through the PyrR binding loop region. Deletion of rho, encoding the transcription termination factor Rho, resulted in an increase in the expression of pyrR-lacZ. Moreover, the strain with a double deletion of pyrR and rho showed elimination of the uracil-responsive downregulation of the pyrR-lacZ. Therefore, expression of the pyrimidine biosynthetic gene cluster in Corynebacterium glutamicum is controlled by two different mechanisms mediated by PyrR and Rho.

IMPORTANCE

The pyr genes of C. glutamicum are downregulated in the presence of uracil in culture medium. The mRNA binding regulator PyrR represses the expression of pyr genes, as reported previously. However, the uracil response was still observed in the pyrR deletion strain. Deletion of rho in addition to pyrR deletion results in the elimination of the uracil response. Therefore, we identified the factors that are involved in the uracil response. Involvement of Rho in the regulation of pyrimidine de novo biosynthesis genes has not been reported.

Genome-wide analysis of the role of global transcriptional regulator GntR1 in Corynebacterium glutamicum

The transcriptional regulator GntR1 downregulates the genes for gluconate catabolism and pentose phosphate pathway in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Gluconate lowers the DNA binding affinity of GntR1, which is probably the mechanism of gluconate-dependent induction of these genes. In addition, GntR1 positively regulates ptsG, a gene encoding a major glucose transporter, and pck, a gene encoding phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase. Here, we searched for the new target of GntR1 on a genome-wide scale by chromatin immunoprecipitation in conjunction with microarray (ChIP-chip) analysis. This analysis identified 56 in vivo GntR1 binding sites, of which 7 sites were previously reported. The newly identified GntR1 sites include the upstream regions of carbon metabolism genes such as pyk, maeB, gapB, and icd, encoding pyruvate kinase, malic enzyme, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase B, and isocitrate dehydrogenase, respectively. Binding of GntR1 to the promoter region of these genes was confirmed by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. The activity of the icd, gapB, and maeB promoters was reduced by the mutation at the GntR1 binding site, in contrast to the pyk promoter activity, which was increased, indicating that GntR1 is a transcriptional activator of icd, gapB, and maeB and is a repressor of pyk. Thus, it is likely that GntR1 stimulates glucose uptake by inducing the phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP):carbohydrate phosphotransferase system (PTS) gene while repressing pyk to increase PEP availability in the absence of gluconate. Repression of zwf and gnd may reduce the NADPH supply, which may be compensated by the induction of maeB and icd. Upregulation of icd, gapB, and maeB and downregulation of pyk by GntR1 probably support gluconeogenesis.

The physiological role of riboflavin transporter and involvement of FMN-riboswitch in its gene expression in Corynebacterium glutamicum

Riboflavin is a precursor of flavin mononucleotide (FMN) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), which work as cofactors of numerous enzymes. Understanding the supply system of these cofactors in bacteria, particularly those used for industrial production of value added chemicals, is important given the pivotal role the cofactors play in substrate metabolism. In this work, we examined the effect of disruption of riboflavin utilization genes on cell growth, cytoplasmic flavin levels, and expression of riboflavin transporter in Corynebacterium glutamicum. Disruption of the ribA gene that encodes bifunctional GTP cyclohydrolase II/3,4-dihydroxy-2-butanone 4-phosphate synthase in C. glutamicum suppressed growth in the absence of supplemental riboflavin. The growth was fully recovered upon supplementation with 1 μM riboflavin, albeit at reduced intracellular concentrations of FMN and FAD during the log phase. Concomitant disruption of the ribA and ribM gene that encodes a riboflavin transporter exacerbated supplemental riboflavin requirement from 1 μM to 50 μM. RibM expression in FMN-rich cells was about 100-fold lower than that in FMN-limited cells. Mutations in putative FMN-riboswitch present immediately upstream of the ribM gene abolished the FMN response. This 5'UTR sequence of ribM constitutes a functional FMN-riboswitch in C. glutamicum.

Recent advances in recombinant protein expression by Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, and Streptomyces: from transcription and translation regulation to secretion pathway selection

Gram-positive bacteria are widely used to produce recombinant proteins, amino acids, organic acids, higher alcohols, and polymers. Many proteins have been expressed in Gram-positive hosts such as Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, and Streptomyces. The favorable and advantageous characteristics (e.g., high secretion capacity and efficient production of metabolic products) of these species have increased the biotechnological applications of bacteria. However, owing to multiplicity from genes encoding the proteins and expression hosts, the expression of recombinant proteins is limited in Gram-positive bacteria. Because there is a very recent review about protein expression in Bacillus subtilis, here we summarize recent strategies for efficient expression of recombinant proteins in the other three typical Gram-positive bacteria (Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, and Streptomyces) and discuss future prospects. We hope that this review will contribute to the development of recombinant protein expression in Corynebacterium, Brevibacterium, and Streptomyces.