Welcome to the new version of CaltechAUTHORS. Login is currently restricted to library staff. If you notice any issues, please email coda@library.caltech.edu
Published May 2011 | Supplemental Material
Journal Article Open

Engineered ketol-acid reductoisomerase and alcohol dehydrogenase enable anaerobic 2-methylpropan-1-ol production at theoretical yield in Escherichia coli

Abstract

2-methylpropan-1-ol (isobutanol) is a leading candidate biofuel for the replacement or supplementation of current fossil fuels. Recent work has demonstrated glucose to isobutanol conversion through a modified amino acid pathway in a recombinant organism. Although anaerobic conditions are required for an economically competitive process, only aerobic isobutanol production has been feasible due to an imbalance in cofactor utilization. Two of the pathway enzymes, ketol-acid reductoisomerase and alcohol dehydrogenase, require nicotinamide dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH); glycolysis, however, produces only nicotinamide dinucleotide (NADH). Here, we compare two solutions to this imbalance problem: (1) over-expression of pyridine nucleotide transhydrogenase PntAB and (2) construction of an NADH-dependent pathway, using engineered enzymes. We demonstrate that an NADH-dependent pathway enables anaerobic isobutanol production at 100% theoretical yield and at higher titer and productivity than both the NADPH-dependent pathway and transhydrogenase over-expressing strain. Our results show how engineering cofactor dependence can overcome a critical obstacle to next-generation biofuel commercialization.

Additional Information

© 2011 Elsevier Inc. Available online 29 April 2011. Research was sponsored by the U.S. Army Research Laboratory and was accomplished under cooperative Agreement no. W911NF-09-2-0022. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. J.T.M. is supported by the Department of Defense through the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program and by the National Science Foundation through the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. X.L. is supported by the China Scholarship Council (CSC).

Attached Files

Supplemental Material - supp..doc

Files

Files (117.2 kB)
Name Size Download all
md5:123607bc7e225a2a9ccced3b8592143f
117.2 kB Download

Additional details

Created:
August 22, 2023
Modified:
October 23, 2023