ABSTRACT
We investigated metabolic engineering of fermentation pathways inEscherichia coli for production of optically pured- or l-lactate. Several pta mutant strains were examined, and a pta mutant of E. coli RR1 which was deficient in the phosphotransacetylase of the Pta-AckA pathway was found to metabolize glucose tod-lactate and to produce a small amount of succinate by-product under anaerobic conditions. An additional mutation inppc made the mutant produce d-lactate like a homofermentative lactic acid bacterium. When the pta ppcdouble mutant was grown to higher biomass concentrations under aerobic conditions before it shifted to the anaerobic phase ofd-lactate production, more than 62.2 g ofd-lactate per liter was produced in 60 h, and the volumetric productivity was 1.04 g/liter/h. To examine whether the blocked acetate flux could be reoriented to a nonindigenousl-lactate pathway, an l-lactate dehydrogenase gene from Lactobacillus casei was introduced into apta ldhA strain which lacked phosphotransacetylase andd-lactate dehydrogenase. This recombinant strain was able to metabolize glucose to l-lactate as the major fermentation product, and up to 45 g of l-lactate per liter was produced in 67 h. These results demonstrate that the central fermentation metabolism of E. coli can be reoriented to the production of d-lactate, an indigenous fermentation product, or to the production of l-lactate, a nonindigenous fermentation product.