Disruption of the Reductive 1,3-Propanediol Pathway Triggers Production of 1,2-Propanediol for Sustained Glycerol Fermentation by Clostridium pasteurianum
Journal Articles
Overview
Research
Identity
Additional Document Info
View All
Overview
abstract
ABSTRACT
Crude glycerol, the major by-product of biodiesel production, is an attractive bioprocessing feedstock owing to its abundance, low cost, and high degree of reduction. In line with the advent of the biodiesel industry,
Clostridium pasteurianum
has gained prominence as a result of its unique capacity to convert waste glycerol into
n
-butanol, a high-energy biofuel. However, no efforts have been directed at abolishing the production of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), the chief competing product of
C. pasteurianum
glycerol fermentation. Here, we report rational metabolic engineering of
C. pasteurianum
for enhanced
n
-butanol production through inactivation of the gene encoding 1,3-PDO dehydrogenase (
dhaT
). In spite of current models of anaerobic glycerol dissimilation, culture growth and glycerol utilization were unaffected in the
dhaT
disruption mutant (
dhaT
::Ll.LtrB). Metabolite characterization of the
dhaT
::Ll.LtrB mutant revealed an 83% decrease in 1,3-PDO production, encompassing the lowest
C. pasteurianum
1,3-PDO titer reported to date (0.58 g liter
−1
). With 1,3-PDO formation nearly abolished, glycerol was converted almost exclusively to
n
-butanol (8.6 g liter
−1
), yielding a high
n
-butanol selectivity of 0.83 g
n
-butanol g
−1
of solvents compared to 0.51 g
n
-butanol g
−1
of solvents for the wild-type strain. Unexpectedly, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis of
dhaT
::Ll.LtrB mutant culture supernatants identified a metabolite peak consistent with 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO), which was confirmed by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Based on these findings, we propose a new model for glycerol dissimilation by
C. pasteurianum
, whereby the production of 1,3-PDO by the wild-type strain and low levels of both 1,3-PDO and 1,2-PDO by the engineered mutant balance the reducing equivalents generated during cell mass synthesis from glycerol.
IMPORTANCE
Organisms from the genus
Clostridium
are perhaps the most notable native cellular factories, owing to their vast substrate utilization range and equally diverse variety of metabolites produced. The ability of
C. pasteurianum
to sustain redox balance and glycerol fermentation despite inactivation of the 1,3-PDO pathway is a testament to the exceptional metabolic flexibility exhibited by clostridia. Moreover, identification of a previously unknown 1,2-PDO-formation pathway, as detailed herein, provides a deeper understanding of fermentative glycerol utilization in clostridia and will inform future metabolic engineering endeavors involving
C. pasteurianum
. To our knowledge, the
C. pasteurianum dhaT
disruption mutant derived in this study is the only organism that produces both 1,2- and 1,3-PDOs. Most importantly, the engineered strain provides an excellent platform for highly selective production of
n
-butanol from waste glycerol.
