1] Department of Chemistry, University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA. [2].
Department of Chemistry, University of California-Davis, Davis, California, USA.
Nat Chem Biol. 2014 Apr;10(4):259-65. doi: 10.1038/nchembio.1476. Epub 2014 Mar 9.
To expand the capabilities of whole-cell biocatalysis, we have engineered Escherichia coli to produce various esters. The alcohol O-acyltransferase (ATF) class of enzyme uses acyl-CoA units for ester formation. The release of free CoA upon esterification with an alcohol provides the free energy to facilitate ester formation. The diversity of CoA molecules found in nature in combination with various alcohol biosynthetic pathways allows for the biosynthesis of a multitude of esters. Small to medium volatile esters have extensive applications in the flavor, fragrance, cosmetic, solvent, paint and coating industries. The present work enables the production of these compounds by designing several ester pathways in E. coli. The engineered pathways generated acetate esters of ethyl, propyl, isobutyl, 2-methyl-1-butyl, 3-methyl-1-butyl and 2-phenylethyl alcohols. In particular, we achieved high-level production of isobutyl acetate from glucose (17.2 g l(-1)). This strategy was expanded to realize pathways for tetradecyl acetate and several isobutyrate esters.
为了拓展全细胞生物催化的功能，我们对大肠杆菌进行了工程改造，使其能够生产各种酯类。酰基辅酶 A 转移酶（ATF）类酶利用酰基辅酶 A 单元进行酯的形成。酯化反应后释放的游离 CoA 为酯的形成提供了自由能。自然界中发现的各种 CoA 分子与各种醇生物合成途径相结合，允许合成多种酯类。小到中等挥发性酯类在香料、香精、化妆品、溶剂、油漆和涂料行业中有广泛的应用。本工作通过在大肠杆菌中设计几种酯途径来实现这些化合物的生产。所设计的途径生成了乙基、丙基、异丁基、2-甲基-1-丁基、3-甲基-1-丁基和 2-苯乙醇的乙酸酯。特别是，我们实现了从葡萄糖（17.2 g l(-1)）高水平生产异丁酸乙酯。该策略得到了扩展，实现了十四烷酸酯和几种异丁酸酯的途径。
