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The metabolism and biotechnological application of betaine in microorganism

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Abstract

Glycine betaine (betaine) is widely distributed in nature and can be found in many microorganisms, including bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Due to its particular functions, many microorganisms utilize betaine as a functional chemical and have evolved different metabolic pathways for the biosynthesis and catabolism of betaine. As in animals and plants, the principle role of betaine is to protect microbial cells against drought, osmotic stress, and temperature stress. In addition, the role of betaine in methyl group metabolism has been observed in a variety of microorganisms. Recent studies have shown that betaine supplementation can improve the performance of microbial strains used for the fermentation of lactate, ethanol, lysine, pyruvate, and vitamin B12, during which betaine can act as stress protectant or methyl donor for the biosynthesis of structurally complex compounds. In this review, we summarize the transport, synthesis, catabolism, and functions of betaine in microorganisms and discuss potential engineering strategies that employ betaine as a methyl donor for the biosynthesis of complex secondary metabolites such as a variety of vitamins, coenzymes, and antibiotics. In conclusion, the biocompatibility, C/N ratio, abundance, and comprehensive metabolic information of betaine collectively indicate that this molecule has great potential for broad applications in microbial biotechnology.

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Acknowledgments

The present study was supported by the Scientific Research Foundation for the Returned Overseas Chinese Scholars (from State Education Ministry to Huibin Zou), QUST Start-up Fund (from QUST to Huibin Zou), Shandong Province Natural Science Foundation (ZR2015BM011), National Natural Science Foundation (21376129), and Technology Development Project of Shandong Province (2012GNC11307).

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  1. College of Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266042, China

    Huibin Zou, Ningning Chen, Mengxun Shi, Yimin Song & Junhong Liu

  2. CAS Key Laboratory of Bio-based Materials, Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Huibin Zou & Mo Xian

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  1. Huibin Zou
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  2. Ningning Chen
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Correspondence to Huibin Zou.

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Zou, H., Chen, N., Shi, M. et al. The metabolism and biotechnological application of betaine in microorganism. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100, 3865–3876 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7462-3

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