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Toward metabolic engineering in the context of system biology and synthetic biology: advances and prospects

Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology volume 99, pages 1109–1118 (2015)Cite this article

Abstract

Metabolic engineering facilitates the rational development of recombinant bacterial strains for metabolite overproduction. Building on enormous advances in system biology and synthetic biology, novel strategies have been established for multivariate optimization of metabolic networks in ensemble, spatial, and dynamic manners such as modular pathway engineering, compartmentalization metabolic engineering, and metabolic engineering guided by genome-scale metabolic models, in vitro reconstitution, and systems and synthetic biology. Herein, we summarize recent advances in novel metabolic engineering strategies. Combined with advancing kinetic models and synthetic biology tools, more efficient new strategies for improving cellular properties can be established and applied for industrially important biochemical production.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the Enterprise-university-research prospective program, Jiangsu Province (BY2012054), 111 Project (111-2-06), and 973 project (2012CB720806). We are also thankful for the constructive advice of Prof. Uwe Sauer from ETH Zürich.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Carbohydrate Chemistry and Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Yanfeng Liu, Jianghua Li & Long Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Industrial Biotechnology, Ministry of Education, Jiangnan University, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Yanfeng Liu, Jianghua Li & Long Liu

  3. Synergetic Innovation Center of Food Safety and Nutrition, Wuxi, 214122, China

    Yanfeng Liu, Jianghua Li & Long Liu

  4. School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, 30332, USA

    Hyun-dong Shin

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  1. Yanfeng Liu
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  2. Hyun-dong Shin
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  3. Jianghua Li
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  4. Long Liu
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Correspondence to Long Liu.

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Liu, Y., Shin, Hd., Li, J. et al. Toward metabolic engineering in the context of system biology and synthetic biology: advances and prospects. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 99, 1109–1118 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6298-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-014-6298-y

Keywords

  • System metabolic engineering
  • Modular pathway engineering
  • Synthetic biology
  • Genome-scale metabolic model
  • Spatial engineering