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Recent advances in the metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid as C3 platform chemical

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Abstract

Development of sustainable technologies for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3HP) as a platform chemical has recently been gaining much attention owing to its versatility in applications for the synthesis of other specialty chemicals. Several proposed biological synthesis routes and strategies for producing 3HP from glucose and glycerol are reviewed presently. Ten proposed routes for 3HP production from glucose are described and one of which was recently constructed successfully in Escherichia coli with malonyl–Coenzyme A as a precursor. This resulted in a yield still far from the required level for industrial application. On the other hand, strategies employing engineered E. coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae capable of producing 3HP from glycerol are also evaluated. The titers produced by these recombinant strains reached around 3 %. At its current state, it is evident that a bulk of engineering works is yet to be done to acquire a biosynthesis route for 3HP that is acceptable for industrial-scale production.

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Notes

  1. From here on, all the Gibbs free energies mentioned in the text are calculated using the eQuilibrator online program (http://milolab.webfactional.com/) as described in the report by Flamholz et al. (2011).

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Priority Research Centers Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology (MEST) (2012-0006693) and the Technology Development Program to Solve Climate Changes (Systems Metabolic Engineering for Biorefineries) from the MEST through the NRF (NRF-2012-C1AAA001-2012M1A2A2026556).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Energy and Environment Fusion Technology Center (E2FTC), Department of Energy and Biotechnology, Myongji University, San 38-2, Nam-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggido, 449-728, Republic of Korea

    Kris Niño G. Valdehuesa, Huaiwei Liu, Grace M. Nisola, Wook-Jin Chung & Si Jae Park

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering and Energy, Myongji University, San 38-2, Nam-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggido, 449-728, Republic of Korea

    Wook-Jin Chung & Si Jae Park

  3. Industrial Biochemicals Research Group, Research Center for Biobased Chemistry, Division of Convergence Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology, P.O. Box 107, 141 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-600, Republic of Korea

    Seung Hwan Lee

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  1. Kris Niño G. Valdehuesa
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  2. Huaiwei Liu
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Correspondence to Seung Hwan Lee or Si Jae Park.

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Valdehuesa, K.N.G., Liu, H., Nisola, G.M. et al. Recent advances in the metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid as C3 platform chemical. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 97, 3309–3321 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-013-4802-4

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