title: Metabolic engineering of Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 for removal of Clostridium butyricum growth inhibitors produced from lignocellulosic hydrolysates.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pretreatment of lignocellulosic biomass can produce inhibitory compounds that are harmful for microorganisms used in the production of biofuels and other chemicals from lignocellulosic sugars. Selective inhibitor removal can be achieved with biodetoxification where microorganisms catabolize the inhibitors without consuming the sugars. We engineered the strictly aerobic Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 for detoxification of lignocellulosic hydrolysates by removing the gene for glucose dehydrogenase, gcd, which catalyzes the first step in its glucose catabolism.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The engineered A. baylyi ADP1 strain was shown to be incapable of consuming the main sugar components of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, i.e., glucose, xylose, and arabinose, but rapidly utilized acetate and formate. Formate was consumed during growth on acetate and by stationary phase cells, and this was enhanced in the presence of a common aromatic inhibitor of lignocellulosic hydrolysates, 4-hydroxybenzoate. The engineered strain tolerated glucose well up to 70 g/l, and the consumption of glucose, xylose, or arabinose was not observed in prolonged cultivations. The engineered strain was applied in removal of oxygen, a gaseous inhibitor of anaerobic fermentations. Co-cultivation with the A. baylyi ADP1 gcd knockout strain under initially aerobic conditions allowed the strictly anaerobic Clostridium butyricum to grow and produce hydrogen (H2) from sugars of the enzymatic rice straw hydrolysate.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We demonstrated that the model organism of bacterial genetics and metabolism, A. baylyi ADP1, could be engineered to be an efficient biodetoxification strain of lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Only one gene knockout was required to completely eliminate sugar consumption and the strain could be used in production of anaerobic conditions for the strictly anaerobic hydrogen producer, C. butyricum. Because of these encouraging results, we believe that A. baylyi ADP1 is a promising candidate for the detoxification of lignocellulosic hydrolysates for bioprocesses.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Matti S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Kannisto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Rahul K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Mangayil
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Enzyme Synergy Programme, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa.
authors.forename: Ankita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Shrivastava-Bhattacharya
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, Enzyme Synergy Programme, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa.
authors.forename: Brett I
authors.initials: BI
authors.lastname: Pletschke
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Matti T
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Karp
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, Tampere, Finland.
authors.forename: Ville P
authors.initials: VP
authors.lastname: Santala
keywords: Acinetobacter baylyi; Biodetoxification; Biohydrogen; Clostridium butyricum; Metabolic engineering; Rice straw hydrolysate