Project description:We reported that analysis of acid tolerance mechanism in Propionibacterium acidipropionici at gene expression level. Genome shuffling was performed on P. acidipropionici to improve the acid tolerance of the strain. Wild type strain P. acidipropionici CGMCC 1.2230 and acid-tolerant mutant P. acidipropionici WSH1105 were compared to find key genes involved in acid tolerance of P. acidipropionici during fermentation. Results provide important information on acid response of P. acidipropionici, such as genes encoded ABC-transporters, proteins involved in amino acids metabolism and propionic acid synthesis.
Project description:Propionic acid (PA) is a three-carbon molecule commonly used as a food preservative and increasingly, as a precursor for the synthesis of monomers. Propionibacterium spp. are the best biological producers of PA. In fact, a recent report showed that if a yield of 0.6 g/g is achieved, biological production of PA would be economically competitive with petrochemical production. To achieve that yield, a library of Propionibacterium strains was used to generate a new strain that can achieve the commercially desirable yield from sucrose. The genome of the new strain was sequenced and a series of SNPs were found to be responsible for the improved phenotype. Using a combination of transcriptomics the relevant mutations were expounded. Differential RNA-sequencing between the wild-type and the mutant strain identified the relevant genomic changes responsible for the PA yield improvement. Notably, an increase in the specific consumption rate of sucrose was attributed to a SNP in the promoter region of a sugar transporter. Similarly, a mutation in a polar amino acid transporter improved acid tolerance, and an improvement in the electron transport system rewired the metabolism to yield an improved PA phenotype. These changes resulted in a lower acetic acid by-product generation and a higher PA yield. The productivity of the new strain was augmented with the design of a fed-batch process to achieve titres of 70 g/L through the use of a mathematically design fed-strategy.
Project description:We performed a combination of metabolic engineering (deletion of ldh and poxB and overexpression of mmc) with evolutionary engineering (selection under oxygen stress, acid stress and osmotic stress) in Propionibacterium acidipropionici. The results indicated that the mutants had superior physiological activity, especially the mutant III obtained from P. acidipropionici-Δldh-ΔpoxB+mmc by evolutionary engineering, with 1.5-3.5 times higher growth rates, as well as a 37.1% increase of PA titer and a 37.8% increase PA productivity compared to the wild type. Moreover, the 5.5-fold upregulation of Dps, 2 to 4-fold upregulation of ABC-type glycine betaine transporter and 3-fold upregulation of SOD indicated that these genes were likely in key regulons for the adaptation to abiotic stresses. An approximately 2.5-fold upregulation of mmc was also found. The results showed the multidirectional variation tendency of P. acidipropionici under cross stress and provide in-depth insights into the mechanism of tolerance and high production of PA.