Abstract
There are some intrinsic drawbacks with fossil fuels including non-renewability, susceptibility to geopolitical instabilities, and negative influences on universal environment and human health. Renewable microbial biomass can be an attractive substitute for fossil fuels in biofuel production, but it is associated with enormous technological difficulties. A large body of investigations concerns attempts to surmount such technical complications by assistance of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology techniques. These techniques design and construct effective biosynthetic pathways in suitable microorganisms and optimize them for high titers, production rate, and yields of biofuels. This chapter reviews recent developments in engineering cellular metabolism for the promotion of biofuel molecules (e.g., higher alcohols, isoprenoids, and fatty acids) and addresses the status quo and potential of biofuels in the future.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abdel-Mawgoud AM et al (2018) Metabolic engineering in the host Yarrowia lipolytica. Metabolic engineering. Elsevier Inc. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2018.07.016
Alonso-Gutierrez J et al (2017) Toward industrial production of isoprenoids in Escherichia coli: lessons learned from CRISPR-Cas9 based optimization of a chromosomally integrated mevalonate pathway. Biotechnol Bioeng 115:1000–1013. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.26530
Amiri Pet al (2016) Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for linalool production. Biotechnol Lett Springer Netherlands 38(3):503–508. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-015-2000-4
Atsumi S, Connor MR (2010) Synthetic biology guides biofuel production. J Biomed Biotechnol 2010:9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2010/541698
Avalos JL, Fink GR, Stephanopoulos G (2013) Compartmentalization of metabolic pathways in yeast mitochondria improves the production of branched-chain alcohols. Nat Biotechnol 31(4):335–341. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.2509
Baumann L et al (2018) A yeast-based biosensor for screening of short- and medium-chain fatty acid production. ACS Synth Biol 7(11):2640–2646. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.8b00309
Bond-Watts BB, Bellerose RJ, Chang MCY (2011) Enzyme mechanism as a kinetic control element for designing synthetic biofuel pathways. Nat Chem Biol Nature Publishing Group 7(4):222–227. https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.537
Cao YX et al (2016) Heterologous biosynthesis and manipulation of alkanes in Escherichia coli. Metab Eng Elsevier 38:19–28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2016.06.002
Cao X et al (2017) Enhancing linalool production by engineering oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Bioresour Technol 245(Pt B):1641–1644. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.06.105
Chen X et al (2011) Increased isobutanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by overexpression of genes in valine metabolism. Biotechnol Biofuels 4:1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/1754-6834-4-21
Choi YJ et al (2014) Metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of higher alcohols. mBio5(5):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01524-14.Copyright
d’Espaux L et al (2017) Engineering high-level production of fatty alcohols by Saccharomyces cerevisiae from lignocellulosic feedstocks. Metab Eng Elsevier Inc 42:115–125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2017.06.004
Ekas H, Deaner M, Alper HS (2019) Recent advancements in fungal-derived fuel and chemical production and commercialization. Curr Opin Biotechnol Elsevier Ltd 57:1–9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2018.08.014
Eng T et al (2018) Restoration of biofuel production levels and increased tolerance under ionic liquid stress is enabled by a mutation in the essential Escherichia coli gene cydC. Microb Cell Fact BioMed Central 17(1):159. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-018-1006-8
Ferreira R, Teixeira PG, Gossing M, David F, Siewers V, Nielsen J (2018) Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for overproduction of triacylglycerols. Metab Eng Commun 6:22–27
Friedlander J et al (2016) Engineering of a high lipid producing Yarrowia lipolytica strain. Biotechnol Biofuels 9:77. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-016-0492-3
George K et al (2015) Metabolic engineering for the high-yield production of isoprenoid-based C 5 alcohols in E. coli. Sci Rep 5:11128. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep11128
Ghosh A et al (2016) (13)C metabolic flux analysis for systematic metabolic engineering of S. cerevisiae for overproduction of fatty acids. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 4:76. https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2016.00076
Gupta P, Phulara SC (2015) Metabolic engineering for isoprenoid-based biofuel production. J Appl Microbiol 119(3):605–619. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.12871
Immethun CM et al (2016) Chapter 1–engineering central metabolism for production of higher alcohol-based biofuels. In: Eckert CA, Trinh CT (eds) Biotechnology for biofuel production and optimization. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 1–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-63475-7.00001-7
Jiang W, Gu P, Zhang F (2018) Steps towards “drop-in” biofuels: focusing on metabolic pathways. Curr Opin Biotechnol 53:26–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.10.010
Kang M-K, Nielsen J (2017) Biobased production of alkanes and alkenes through metabolic engineering of microorganisms. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 44(4):613–622. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-016-1814-y
Kang A et al (2016) Isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP)-bypass mevalonate pathways for isopentenol production.Metab Eng Elsevier 34:25–35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2015.12.002
Kang M-K et al (2017) Functional screening of aldehyde decarbonylases for long-chain alkane production by Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microb Cell Factories 16:1–8. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-017-0683-z
Kim EM et al (2017) Autonomous control of metabolic state by a quorum sensing (QS)-mediated regulator for bisabolene production in engineered E. coli. Metab Eng Elsevier Inc.44:325–336. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2017.11.004
Kirby J et al (2015) Enhancing Terpene yield from sugars via novel routes to 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate. Appl Environ Microbiol 81(1):130–138. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02920-14
Lan EI, Liao JC (2013) Microbial synthesis of n-butanol, isobutanol, and other higher alcohols from diverse resources. Bioresour Technol 135:339–349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2012.09.104
Lazar Z, Liu N, Stephanopoulos G (2018) Holistic approaches in lipid production by Yarrowia lipolytica. Trends Biotechnol Elsevier 36(11):1157–1170. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.06.007
Leber C et al (2015) Disrupted short chain specific β-oxidation and improved synthase expression increase synthesis of short chain fatty acids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Biotechnol Bioeng 113(4):895–900. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.25839
Lin J-L et al (2018) An enzyme-coupled assay enables rapid protein engineering for geraniol production in yeast. Biochem Eng J Elsevier 139:95–100. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.BEJ.2018.08.011
Liu Y et al (2016) High production of fatty alcohols in Escherichia coli with fatty acid starvation. Microb Cell Fact BioMed Central 15(1):1–10. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-016-0524-5
Liu C-L et al (2018) Renewable production of high density jet fuel precursor sesquiterpenes from Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Biofuels BioMed Central 11(1):285. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-018-1272-z
López-Lara IM, Soto MJ (2018) Fatty acid synthesis and regulation. In: Geiger O (ed) Biogenesis of fatty acids, lipids and membranes. Springer, Cham, pp 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43676-0_26-1
Lütke-Eversloh T, Bahl H (2011) Metabolic engineering of Clostridium acetobutylicum: recent advances to improve butanol production. Curr Opin Biotechnol Elsevier Current Trends 22(5):634–647. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.COPBIO.2011.01.011
Marella ER et al (2018) Engineering microbial fatty acid metabolism for biofuels and biochemicals. Curr Opin Biotechnol 50(Table 1):39–46. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.10.002
Markham KA, Alper HS (2018a) Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for the production of cyclopropanated fatty acids. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 45(10):881–888. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-018-2067-8
Markham KA, Alper HS (2018b) Synthetic biology expands the industrial potential of Yarrowia lipolytica. Trends Biotechnol Elsevier Ltd 36(10):1085–1095. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.05.004
Matsuda F et al (2013) Increased isobutanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae by eliminating competing pathways and resolving cofactor imbalance. Microb Cell Factories 12:119. https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2859-12-119
Meadows AL et al (2016) Rewriting yeast central carbon metabolism for industrial isoprenoid production. Nature Nature Publishing Group537(7622):694–697. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19769
Meadows CW, Kang A, Lee TS (2017) Metabolic engineering for advanced biofuels production and recent advances toward commercialization. Biotechnol J 13(1):1600433. https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.201600433
Mendez-Perez D et al (2017) Production of jet fuel precursor monoterpenoids from engineered Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Bioeng 114(8):1703–1712. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.26296
Mukherjee K, Bhattacharyya S, Peralta-Yahya P (2015) GPCR-based chemical biosensors for medium-chain fatty acids. ACS Synth Biol American Chemical Society4(12):1261–1269. https://doi.org/10.1021/sb500365m
Nielsen J, Keasling JD (2016) Engineering cellular metabolism. Cell Elsevier Ltd 164(6):1185–1197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2016.02.004
Niu F et al (2018) Enhancing production of Pinene in Escherichia coli by using a combination of tolerance, evolution, and modular co-culture engineering. Front Microbiol 9:1–14. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2018.01623
Peralta-Yahya PP, Keasling JD (2010) Advanced biofuel production in microbes. Biotechnol J 5(2):147–162. https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.200900220
Pfleger BF, Gossing M, Nielsen J (2015) Metabolic engineering strategies for microbial synthesis of oleochemicals. Metab Eng Elsevier 29:1–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2015.01.009
Qiao K et al (2017) Lipid production in Yarrowia lipolytica is maximized by engineering cytosolic redox metabolism. Nat Biotechnol Nature Publishing Group 35(2):173–177. https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt.3763
Rico J, Pardo E, Orejas M (2010) Enhanced production of a plant monoterpene by overexpression of the3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase catalytic domain in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Appl Environ Microbiol 76(19):6449–6454. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.02987-09
RigouinCet al (2018) Increasing medium chain fatty acids production in Yarrowia lipolytica by metabolic engineering. Microb Cell Fact BioMed Central 17(1):142. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-018-0989-5
Runguphan W, Keasling JD (2014) Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of fatty acid-derived biofuels and chemicals. Metab Eng 21:103–113. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2013.07.003
Saini M et al (2017) Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for production of n-butanol from crude glycerol. Biotechnol Biofuels 10:173. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-0857-2
Sànchez i Nogué V et al (2018) Integrated diesel production from lignocellulosic sugars via oleaginous yeast. Green Chem 20:4349–4365. https://doi.org/10.1039/C8GC01905C
Sarria S et al (2014) Microbial synthesis of Pinene. ACS Synth Biol 3:466–475. https://doi.org/10.1021/sb4001382
Schwartz C, Löbs A (2018) Multiplexed CRISPR activation of cryptic sugar metabolism enables Yarrowia lipolytica growth on cellobiose, pp 1–21
Shen CR et al (2011) Driving forces enable high-titer anaerobic 1-butanol synthesis in Escherichia coli. Appl Environ Microbiol 77(9):2905–2915. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.03034-10
Shi S, Zhao H (2017) Metabolic engineering of oleaginous yeasts for production of fuels and chemicals. Front Microbiol 8:2185. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmicb.2017.02185
Shi S, Ji H et al (2016a) Improved production of fatty acids by Saccharomyces cerevisiae through screening a cDNA library from the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. FEMS Yeast Research. Oxford University Press 16(1):fov108. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/fov108
Shi S, Si T et al (2016b) Metabolic engineering of a synergistic pathway for n-butanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Sci Rep 6:25675. https://doi.org/10.1038/srep25675
Si T et al (2014) Utilizing an endogenous pathway for 1-butanol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.Metab Eng Elsevier22:60–68. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2014.01.002
Siripong Wet al (2018) Metabolic engineering of Pichia pastoris for production of isobutanol and isobutyl acetate. Biotechnol Biofuels BioMed Central 11(1):1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-017-1003-x
Stephanopoulos G, Gill RT (2001) After a decade of progress, an expanded role for metabolic engineering. In: Nielsen J et al (eds) Metabolic engineering. Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, pp 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-45300-8_1
Stephanopoulos G, Vallino JJ (1991) Network rigidity and metabolic engineering in metabolite overproduction. Science 252(5013):1675 LP–1671681. Available at: http://science.sciencemag.org/content/252/5013/1675.abstract
Swidah R et al (2018) N-Butanol production in S. cerevisiae: co-ordinate use of endogenous and exogenous pathways. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 102:9857–9866
Tai M, Stephanopoulos GN (2015) Metabolic engineering: enabling technology for biofuels production. In: Advances in bioenergy. Wiley, Hoboken, pp 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118957844.ch1
Tashiro M et al (2016) Bacterial production of Pinene by a laboratory-evolved Pinene-synthase. ACS Synth Biol 5(9):1011–1020. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.6b00140
Teixeira PG et al (2017) Dynamic regulation of fatty acid pools for improved production of fatty alcohols in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Microb Cell Factories 16(1):45. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12934-017-0663-3
Teixeira PG et al (2018) Engineering lipid droplet assembly mechanisms for improved triacylglycerol accumulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. FEMS Yeast Res. Oxford University Press 18(6). https://doi.org/10.1093/femsyr/foy060
van Rossum H et al (2016) Engineering cytosolic acetyl-coenzyme a supply in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: pathway stoichiometry, free-energy conservation and redox-cofactor balancing. Metab Eng 36:99–115. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2016.03.006
Vermaas JV et al (2018) Membrane permeability of Terpenoids explored with molecular simulation. J Phys Chem B 122(45):10349–10361. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcb.8b08688
Wang C et al (2011) Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for α-farnesene production. Metab Eng 13(6):648–655. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2011.08.001
Wang C et al (2016a) Farnesol production in Escherichia coli through the construction of a farnesol biosynthesis pathway – application of PgpB and YbjG phosphatases. Biotechnol J 11(10):1291–1297. https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.201600250
Wang G et al (2016b) Exploring fatty alcohol-producing capability of Yarrowia lipolytica. Biotechnol Biofuels 9:107. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13068-016-0512-3
Ward VCA, Chatzivasileiou AO, Stephanopoulos G (2018) Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the production of isoprenoids. FEMS Microbiol Lett 365(10):fny079. https://doi.org/10.1093/femsle/fny079
Xu P et al (2016) Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica as a platform for synthesis of drop-in transportation fuels and oleochemicals. Proc Natl Acad Sci 113(39):10848–10853. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1607295113
Xu P, Qiao K, Stephanopoulos G (2017) Engineering oxidative stress defense pathways to build a robust lipid production platform in Yarrowia lipolytica. Biotechnol Bioeng 114(7):1521–1530. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.26285
Yan J et al (2017) Harnessing biodiesel-producing microbes: from genetic engineering of lipase to metabolic engineering of fatty acid biosynthetic pathway. Crit Rev Biotechnol 37(1):26–36. https://doi.org/10.3109/07388551.2015.1104531
Yang X et al (2016) Heterologous production of α-farnesene in metabolically engineered strains of Yarrowia lipolytica. Bioresour Technol 216:1040–1048. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.06.028
You S et al (2017) Utilization of biodiesel by-product as substrate for high-production of β-farnesene via relatively balanced mevalonate pathway in Escherichia coli. Bioresour Technol 243:228–236. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2017.06.058
Yu Tet al (2017) Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of very long chain fatty acid-derived chemicals.Nat Commun. Nature Publishing Group 8:15587. https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms15587
Yu T et al (2018) Reprogramming yeast metabolism from alcoholic fermentation to Lipogenesis. Cell Elsevier Inc 174(6):1549–1558.e14. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cell.2018.07.013
Yuzbasheva E et al (2017a) A metabolic engineering strategy for producing free fatty acids by the Yarrowia lipolytica yeast based on impairment of glycerol metabolism: impairment of glycerol metabolism for FFA production. Biotechnol Bioeng 115:433–443. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.26402
Yuzbasheva EY et al (2017b) Co-expression of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase and acyl-CoA binding protein enhances lipid accumulation in the yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. New Biotechnol 39.(Pt A):18–21. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbt.2017.05.008
Zhao J et al (2016) Improving monoterpene geraniol production through geranyl diphosphate synthesis regulation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 100(10):4561–4571. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7375-1
Zhou YJ et al (2018) Engineering 1-alkene biosynthesis and secretion by dynamic regulation in yeast. ACS Synth Biol Am Chem Soc 7(2):584–590. https://doi.org/10.1021/acssynbio.7b00338
Zhu F et al (2014) In vitro reconstitution of Mevalonate pathway and targeted engineering of farnesene overproduction in Escherichia coli. Biotechnol Bioeng 111:1396–1405. https://doi.org/10.1002/bit.25198
Zhu Z et al (2017) Enabling the synthesis of medium chain alkanes and 1-alkenes in yeast. Metab Eng Academic Press 44:81–88. https://doi.org/10.1016/J.YMBEN.2017.09.007
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nazhand, A. (2020). Application of Metabolic Engineering for Biofuel Production in Microorganisms. In: Srivastava, N., Srivastava, M., Mishra, P., Gupta, V. (eds) Substrate Analysis for Effective Biofuels Production. Clean Energy Production Technologies. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9607-7_9
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9607-7_9
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-32-9606-0
Online ISBN: 978-981-32-9607-7
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)