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Cha S, Lim HG, Kwon S, Kim DH, Kang CW, Jung GY. Design of mutualistic microbial consortia for stable conversion of carbon monoxide to value-added chemicals. Metab Eng 2021; 64:146-153. [PMID: 33571657 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2021.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2020] [Revised: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 12/31/2022]
Abstract
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a promising carbon source for producing value-added biochemicals via microbial fermentation. However, its microbial conversion has been challenging because of difficulties in genetic engineering of CO-utilizing microorganisms and, more importantly, maintaining CO consumption which is negatively affected by the toxicity of CO and accumulated byproducts. To overcome these issues, we devised mutualistic microbial consortia, co-culturing Eubacterium limosum and genetically engineered Escherichia coli for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) and itaconic acid (ITA). During the co-culture, E. limosum assimilated CO and produced acetate, a toxic by-product, while E. coli utilized acetate as a sole carbon source. We found that this mutualistic interaction dramatically stabilized and improved CO consumption of E. limosum compared to monoculture. Consequently, the improved CO consumption allowed successful production of 3-HP and ITA from CO. This study is the first demonstration of value-added biochemical production from CO using a microbial consortium. Moreover, it suggests that synthetic mutualistic microbial consortium can serve as a powerful platform for the valorization of CO.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sanghak Cha
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Hyun Gyu Lim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Seokmu Kwon
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Dong-Hwan Kim
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Chae Won Kang
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea
| | - Gyoo Yeol Jung
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea; School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, 77 Cheongam-RoNam-Gu, Pohang, Gyeongbuk, 37673, Republic of Korea.
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