title: Engineering cellular robustness of microbes by introducing the GroESL chaperonins from extremophilic bacteria.
abstract: The cellular robustness is a big concern for efficient microbial production of biofuels and biochemicals. In this study, the groESL genes from extremophilic bacteria were found to serve as transplantable stress-response elements to improve diverse types of stress-tolerances of other microbes. By overexpressing the groESL from the solvent-tolerant Pseudomonas putida in Escherichia coli, its thermo-tolerance and ethanol-tolerance were significantly increased. Meanwhile, the groESL from the thermophilic Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis endowed Clostridium acetobutylicum with improved corn cob hydrolysates (CCH)-tolerance as well as elevated butanol productivity. The chaperonins GroESL have been widely considered as cellular stress-response proteins and overexpression of native groESL has been proven to improve cellular tolerances facing various stresses. Here we found that the groESL genes from extremophilic bacteria were superior to the native ones, possibly because they have adapted to the environmental stresses during long-term natural evolution. Moreover, our results also revealed that different extreme groESL genes performed quite different in different microbes. Thus the relation and compatibility between the extremophiles and the host must be considered for selection of the proper groESL for engineering microbial robustness.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Guodong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Luan
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hongjun
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.affiliation: State Engineering Laboratory for Industrial Enzymes, Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tianjin, China.
authors.forename: Tianrui
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Zhao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yanping
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Yin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Microbial Physiological and Metabolic Engineering, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. Electronic address: caiz@im.ac.cn.
authors.forename: Zhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cai
mesh_terms: D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D057005:Bioengineering / Q000379:methods*; D018833:Chaperonins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000502:physiology*; D046969:Clostridium acetobutylicum / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000235:genetics; D055049:Salt Tolerance
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; C097970:GroESL protein, Bacteria; D018833:Chaperonins
keywords: Cellular robustness; Clostridium acetobutylicum; GroESL