Pleiotropic Regulator GssR Positively Regulates Autotrophic Growth of Gas-Fermenting Clostridium ljungdahlii

Clostridium ljungdahlii is a representative autotrophic acetogen capable of producing multiple chemicals from one-carbon gases (CO2/CO). The metabolic and regulatory networks of this carbon-fixing bacterium are interesting, but still remain minimally explored. Here, based on bioinformatics analysis followed by functional screening, we identified a RpiR family transcription factor (TF) that can regulate the autotrophic growth and carbon fixation of C. ljungdahlii. After deletion of the corresponding gene, the resulting mutant strain exhibited significantly impaired growth in gas fermentation, thus reducing the production of acetic acid and ethanol. In contrast, the overexpression of this TF gene could promote cell growth, indicating a positive regulatory effect of this TF in C. ljungdahlii. Thus, we named the TF as GssR (growth and solvent synthesis regulator). Through the following comparative transcriptomic analysis and biochemical verification, we discovered three important genes (encoding pyruvate carboxylase, carbon hunger protein CstA, and a BlaI family transcription factor) that were directly regulated by GssR. Furthermore, an upstream regulator, BirA, that could directly bind to gssR was found; thus, these two regulators may form a cascade regulation and jointly affect the physiology and metabolism of C. ljungdahlii. These findings substantively expand our understanding on the metabolic regulation of carbon fixation in gas-fermenting Clostridium species.

Online monitoring applying the anaerobic respiratory monitoring system reveals iron(II) limitation in YTF medium for Clostridium ljungdahlii

Online monitoring of microbial cultures is an effective approach for studying both aerobic and anaerobic microorganisms. Especially in small-scale cultivations, several parallel online monitored experiments can generate a detailed understanding of the cultivation, compared to a situation where a few data points are generated from time course sampling and offline analysis. However, the availability of small-scale online monitoring devices for acetogenic organisms is limited. In this study, the previously reported anaerobic Respiration Activity MOnitoring System (anaRAMOS) device was adapted for online monitoring of Clostridium ljungdahlii (C. ljungdahlii) cultures with fructose as the carbon source. The anaRAMOS was applied to identify conversion of different carbon sources present in commonly used YTF medium. An iron(II) deficiency was discovered in this medium for C. ljungdahlii. Addition of iron(II) to the YTF medium reduced the cultivation time and increased biomass yield of C. ljungdahlii cultures by 50% and 40%, respectively. The measurement of the carbon dioxide transfer rate was used to calculated the iron(II) contained in complex components. By demonstrating the application of the anaRAMOS device for medium optimization, it is proven that the described online monitoring device has potential for use in process development.

Rapid Generation of Universal Synthetic Promoters for Controlled Gene Expression in Both Gas-Fermenting and Saccharolytic Clostridium Species

Engineering solventogenic clostridia, a group of important industrial microorganisms, to realize their full potential in biorefinery application is still hindered by the absence of plentiful biological parts. Here, we developed an effective approach for rapid generation of a synthetic promoter library in solventogenic clostridia based on a dual-reporter system (catP-lacZ) and a widely used strong thl promoter. The yielded artificial promoters, spanning 2 orders of magnitude, comprised two modular components (the core promoter region and the spacer between RBS and the translation-initiating code), and the strongest promoter had an over 10-fold-higher activity than the original expression part P_thl. The test of these synthetic promoters in controlled expression of sadh and danK in saccharolytic C. acetobutylicum and gas-fermenting C. ljungdahlii, respectively, gave the expected phenotypes, and moreover, showed good correlation between promoter activities and phenotypic changes. The presented wide-strength-range promoters here will be useful for synthetic biology application in solventogenic clostridia.