title: Identification of a 21 amino acid peptide conferring 3-hydroxypropionic acid stress-tolerance to Escherichia coli.
abstract: We report the identification of a novel small open reading frame in Escherichia coli. The sORF (called iroK) encodes a 21 amino cid peptide, which when translated confers a 133% (ca. 20 g/L) increase in resistance to 3-hydroxypropionic acid. We show that iroK conferred tolerance is additive to previously identified tolerance mechanisms involving relief of inhibited metabolism, yet does not involve altered 3-HP transport. This result demonstrates the continued surprises that microbial genomes hold and emphasize the importance of comprehensive discovery methods in future strain and metabolic engineering efforts.
authors.affiliation: OPX Biotechnologies, Boulder, Colorado 80301, USA.
authors.forename: T E
authors.initials: TE
authors.lastname: Warnecke
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Lynch
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Lipscomb
authors.forename: R T
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Gill
mesh_terms: D001483:Base Sequence; D004351:Drug Resistance; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology*; D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000633:toxicity; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009842:Oligopeptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D010455:Peptides / Q000378:metabolism*; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D029968:Escherichia coli Proteins; C573713:IroK peptide, E coli; D009842:Oligopeptides; D010455:Peptides; D019344:Lactic Acid; C031601:hydracrylic acid