Abstract
It has been widely reported that the addition of trimethylglycine (betaine) decreases osmotic pressure inhibition for cell growth, leading to increased production of amino acids. However, the underlying mechanism is unclear. To determine the global metabolic differences that occur under the addition of trimethylglycine, transcriptome analysis was performed. Transcriptome analysis of Corynebacterium glutamicum JL1211 revealed that 272 genes exhibited significant changes under trimethylglycine addition. We performed Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG enrichment pathway analyses on these differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Significantly upregulated genes were mainly involved in the regulation of ABC transporters, especially phosphate transporters and sulfur metabolism. The three phosphate transporter genes pstC, pstA and pstB were upregulated by 13.06-fold, 29.80-fold and 30.49-fold, respectively. Notably, the transcriptional levels of the cysD, cysN, cysH and sir genes were upregulated by 81.5-fold, 57.3-fold, 77.6-fold and 125.4-fold, respectively, consistent with assimilatory sulfate reduction under the addition of trimethylglycine. The upregulation of ilvBN and leuD genes might result in increased l-leucine formation. The data indicated changes in the transcriptome of C. glutamicum with trimethylglycine treatment, thus providing a mechanism supporting the application of trimethylglycine in the production of l-leucine and other amino acids by C. glutamicum strains.
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This work was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2021YFC2100900); the Tianjin Synthetic Biotechnology Innovation Capacity Improvement Project (TSBICIP-KJGG-005).
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JW, XW and QL developed the idea of the study, participated in its design and coordination and helped to draft the manuscript. DHL and QG contributed to the acquisition and interpretation of data. DWL provided critical review and substantially revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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Wang, J., Wang, X., Liang, Q. et al. Transcriptome analysis of l-leucine-producing Corynebacterium glutamicum under the addition of trimethylglycine. Amino Acids 54, 229–240 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-021-03105-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00726-021-03105-5