Pseudomonas putida DSM 6125 complete genome sequencing
Pseudomonas putida is a ubiquitous saprophytic soil bacterium and is present in diverse environments. Due to its versatile metabolism and stress tolerance, it has long been used as a chassis for synthetic biology and metabolic engineering for agricultural and industrial applications. We present the whole genome sequence (WGS) of P. putida strain DSM 6125, carrying heterologous genes for the metabolism of furfural and 5-hydroxy-methyl furfural (5-HMF) from Cupriavidus basilensis strain DSM 11853. Furfural and 5-HMF are major toxic inhibitors present in Lignocellulosic biomasses (LBMs) which limit the use of LBMs as feedstock for fermentative microorganisms to produce value-added products. Furfural and 5-HMF metabolizing genes were integrated into the genome (in-frame) of P. putida DSM 6125 by replacing glucose-utilizing genes (oprBII, gcd, and glk). This allows an engineered strain of P. putida (named UW0SKVC2) to selectively utilize furfural and 5-HMF instead of glucose, which can then be metabolized by other fermentative microorganisms to produce value-added biochemicals and biofuels.