Engineering the homoserine dehydrogenase and threonine dehydratase control points to analyse flux towards L -isoleucine in Corynebacterium glutamicum

ABSTRACT The catabolic or biodegradative threonine dehydratase (E.C. 4.2.1.16) of Escherichia coli is an isoleucine feedback-resistant enzyme that catalyzes the degradation of threonine to α-ketobutyrate, the first reaction of the isoleucine pathway. We cloned and expressed this enzyme in Corynebacterium glutamicum. We found that while the native threonine dehydratase of C. glutamicum was totally inhibited by 15 mM isoleucine, the heterologous catabolic threonine dehydratase expressed in the same strain was much less sensitive to isoleucine; i.e., it retained 60% of its original activity even in the presence of 200 mM isoleucine. To determine whether expressing the catabolic threonine dehydratase (encoded by the tdcB gene) provided any benefit for isoleucine production compared to the native enzyme (encoded by theilvA gene), fermentations were performed with the wild-type strain, an ilvA-overexpressing strain, and atdcB-expressing strain. By expressing the heterologous catabolic threonine dehydratase in C. glutamicum, we were able to increase the production of isoleucine 50-fold, whereas overexpression of the native threonine dehydratase resulted in only a fourfold increase in isoleucine production. Carbon balance data showed that when just one enzyme, the catabolic threonine dehydratase, was overexpressed, 70% of the carbon available for the lysine pathway was redirected into the isoleucine pathway.

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Co-Expression of Threonine Dehydratase and Acetolactate Synthase in Escherichia Coli for L-Isoleucine Production

Advanced Materials Research ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/amr.989-994.997 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 989-994 ◽

pp. 997-1002 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jian Wang ◽

Jia Kai Sun ◽

Qing Yang Xu

Keyword(s):

Escherichia Coli ◽

Corynebacterium Glutamicum ◽

Carbon Flux ◽

Batch Fermentation ◽

Acetolactate Synthase ◽

Fed Batch ◽

Threonine Dehydratase ◽

E Coli ◽

Fed Batch Fermentation ◽

Fermentation Period

Metabolic engineering ofCorynebacterium glutamicumhas sought to divert carbon into L-isoleucine. However, the fermentation period of this strain is long. TheC.glutamicumYILW strain (LeuL, AHVr, SGr, Leu-MEr) was previously derived by repeated compound mutagenesis which could accumulate 20.2 g/L L-isoleucine in a 5-L jar fermentor. Overexpression of the threonine dehydratase gene (ilvA) fromCorynebacterium glutamicumYILW and coexpression of threonine dehydratase and acetolactate synthase (ilvBN) from it were employed to divert carbon flux toward L-isoleucine. The strainE. coliTRFC with the expression ofilvA could accumulate L-isoleucine of 6.8 g/L without accumulation of any L-threonine by fed-batch fermentation in a 5-L jar fermentor. However, the production of L-isoleucine by the strainE.coliTRFC with the co-expression ofilvA andilvBN was decreased by 19.1%, and the production of L-valine was increased by 40% compared with that ofE. coliTRFC with the expression ofilvA.

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