Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Trends Biotechnol. 2012 Dec;30(12):659-67. doi: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2012.09.006. Epub 2012 Oct 23.
Fatty acid metabolism has received significant attention as a route for producing high-energy density, liquid transportation fuels and high-value oleochemicals from renewable feedstocks. If microbes can be engineered to produce these compounds at yields that approach the theoretical limits of 0.3-0.4 g/g glucose, then processes can be developed to replace current petrochemical technologies. Here, we review recent metabolic engineering efforts to maximize production of free fatty acids (FFA) in Escherichia coli, the first step towards production of downstream products. To date, metabolic engineers have succeeded in achieving higher yields of FFA than any downstream products. Regulation of fatty acid metabolism and the physiological effects of fatty acid production will also be reviewed from the perspective of identifying future engineering targets.
脂肪酸代谢作为一种从可再生原料生产高能密度、液体运输燃料和高附加值油脂化学品的途径受到了广泛关注。如果微生物能够被工程化改造，使其以接近 0.3-0.4 g/g 葡萄糖的理论极限的产率来生产这些化合物，那么就可以开发出替代现有石油化工技术的工艺。在这里，我们综述了最近在代谢工程方面的努力，以最大限度地提高大肠杆菌中游离脂肪酸（FFA）的产量，这是生产下游产品的第一步。迄今为止，代谢工程师已经成功地实现了比任何下游产品更高的 FFA 产量。我们还将从鉴定未来工程靶点的角度来综述脂肪酸代谢的调控和脂肪酸生产的生理效应。
