title: Engineering a metabolic pathway for isobutanol biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis.
abstract: Isobutanol can be biosynthesized via α-ketoisovalerate catalyzed by heterologous keto acid decarboxylase (KDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). In this work, isobutanol biosynthesis pathway was designed in Bacillus subtilis, a notable solvent-tolerant host. In order to do that, a plasmid pPKA expressing KDC and ADH under the control of a B. subtilis strong promoter P(43) was constructed. Isobutanol was detected in the products of the recombinant B. subtilis harboring pPKA plasmid, whereas none was detected by the wild-type strain. Effects of the medium ingredients such as glucose concentration and valine addition, and operating parameters such as initial pH, inoculation volume, and medium work volume on isobutanol production were also investigated. Isobutanol production reached to the maximum of 0.607 g/L after 35-h cultivation under the conditions: glucose concentration of 3%, valine addition of 2%, initial pH of 7.0, inoculum of 1%, and work volume of 50 mL/250 mL. Though the isobutanol production by the recombinant was low, it was the first successful attempt to produce isobutanol in engineered B. subtilis, and the results showed its great potential as an isobutanol-producing cell factory.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemical Engineering, School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Tianjin University, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of China. xqjia@tju.edu.cn
authors.forename: Xiaoqiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Sha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D000440:Butanols / Q000378:metabolism*; D003470:Culture Media / Q000494:pharmacology; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D005947:Glucose / Q000494:pharmacology; D053858:Metabolic Networks and Pathways / Q000187:drug effects; D010957:Plasmids / Q000378:metabolism; D011995:Recombination, Genetic / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D014633:Valine / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D000440:Butanols; D003470:Culture Media; C040507:isobutyl alcohol; D014633:Valine; D005947:Glucose