Functional Genes and Proteomics Laboratory
Grace, I-Son Ng in NCKU
功能性基因與蛋白質體研究室 (吳意珣實驗室)
2023/02/22
Aromatic Compounds
In order to urge human development from fossil fuel dependence to a sustainable society, microbial cell factory is projected for the production of fuels and chemicals from high-volume to high-value-added compounds. Recently, the synthesis of aromatic compounds from the shikimate pathway has received increasing interest due to their high value in a wide range of industries. Nonetheless, a variety of genetic tools still require exquisite handling skills in the detailed investigation of gene expression compartments and existing toolsets optimization for the high-yield product in a cost-competitive fashion. Therefore, the optimization of producer strains in terms of rational genetic design, strain phenotype, and production methods is another important issue for biochemical synthesis. Also, the attribution to understanding the behavior of a single or the multiple engineered strains involved is indispensable.
The relative ease by which genome editing in Escherichia coli performs as a powerful overexpressor of heterologous enzymes into chromosomes, thus leading to rapid isolation of stable strains. Moreover, several ingenious strategies from synthetic biology platforms, such as coupling with a chaperone, membrane-associated enzyme, and transporter, also applying a protein scaffold system, can be well-thought-off to optimize the catalytic properties of enzymes and increase the substrate-enzyme channeling. To this end, the microbial co-culture strategy emerges to ease the complex microbial consortia in natural product synthesis. Different hosts will accommodate individual or multi-modules of functional genes to achieve high-end desired compounds. This research study not only establishes robust E. coli for the production of value-added aromatic compounds but also expands the scope of metabolic engineering for cutting-edge.
Related publications:
Sefli Sri Wahyu Effendi & I-Son Ng* (2022) Reprogramming T7RNA polymerase in Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 under specific lac operon for efficient p‑coumaric acid production. ACS Synthetic Biology 11, 3471-3481.