title: Challenges in the production of itaconic acid by metabolically engineered Escherichia coli.
abstract: Metabolic engineering allows the production of a variety of high-value chemicals in heterologous hosts. For example, itaconic acid (IA) has been produced in several microorganisms, such as Escherichia coli, Aspergillus niger, and Synechocystis sp. through the expression of cis-aconitate decarboxylase gene (cad) from Aspergillus terreus. Recently, we showed that inactivation of the isocitrate dehydrogenase gene and overexpression of the aconitase gene dramatically enhanced the production levels of IA in E. coli expressing cad. Furthermore, we demonstrated that it is possible to produce IA directly from starch by engineered E. coli that additionally expresses the α-amylase gene from Streptococcus bovis. In this study, we sum up our findings regarding the challenges of IA production in E. coli.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biobased Materials Science ; Kyoto Institute of Technology ; Kyoto , Japan.
authors.forename: Kouhei
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biobased Materials Science ; Kyoto Institute of Technology ; Kyoto , Japan.
authors.forename: Keisuke
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Nagata
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biobased Materials Science ; Kyoto Institute of Technology ; Kyoto , Japan.
authors.forename: Hitomi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohara
authors.affiliation: a Department of Biobased Materials Science ; Kyoto Institute of Technology ; Kyoto , Japan.
authors.forename: Yuji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Aso
mesh_terms: D000154:Aconitate Hydratase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D024861:Genetic Enhancement / Q000379:methods*; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D060847:Metabolic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D013386:Succinates / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D013386:Succinates; D007521:Isocitrate Dehydrogenase; D000154:Aconitate Hydratase; C005229:itaconic acid
keywords: Escherichia coli; itaconic acid; metabolic engineering; starch; α-amylase