title: Improvement of cellulolytic properties of Clostridium cellulolyticum by metabolic engineering.
abstract: Cellulolytic clostridia have evolved to catabolize lignocellulosic materials at a seasonal biorhythm, so their biotechnological exploitation requires genetic improvements. As high carbon flux leads to pyruvate accumulation, which is responsible for the cessation of growth of Clostridium cellulolyticum, this accumulation is decreased by heterologous expression of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase from Zymomonas mobilis. In comparison with that of the wild strain, growth of the recombinant strain at the same specific rate but for 145 h instead of 80 h led to a 150% increase in cellulose consumption and a 180% increase in cell dry weight. The fermentation pattern was shifted significantly: lactate production decreased by 48%, whereas the concentrations of acetate and ethanol increased by 93 and 53%, respectively. This study demonstrates that the fermentation of cellulose, the most abundant and renewable polymer on earth, can be greatly improved by using genetically engineered C. cellulolyticum.
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biochimie des Bactéries Gram Positif, Faculté des Sciences, Université Henri Poincaré, 54506 Vandoeuvre-lès-Nancy Cedex, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guedon
authors.forename: Mickaël
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Desvaux
authors.forename: Henri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Petitdemange
mesh_terms: D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D002482:Cellulose / Q000378:metabolism*; D003013:Clostridium / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D003470:Culture Media; D005285:Fermentation; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D011767:Pyruvate Decarboxylase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic; D014169:Transformation, Bacterial; D017355:Zymomonas / Q000201:enzymology / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D003470:Culture Media; D002482:Cellulose; D000426:Alcohol Dehydrogenase; D011767:Pyruvate Decarboxylase