High level secretion of cellobiohydrolases by Saccharomyces cerevisiae

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The main technological impediment to widespread utilization of lignocellulose for the production of fuels and chemicals is the lack of low-cost technologies to overcome its recalcitrance. Organisms that hydrolyze lignocellulose and produce a valuable product such as ethanol at a high rate and titer could significantly reduce the costs of biomass conversion technologies, and will allow separate conversion steps to be combined in a consolidated bioprocess (CBP). Development of <it>Saccharomyces cerevisiae </it>for CBP requires the high level secretion of cellulases, particularly cellobiohydrolases.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We expressed various cellobiohydrolases to identify enzymes that were efficiently secreted by <it>S. cerevisiae</it>. For enhanced cellulose hydrolysis, we engineered bimodular derivatives of a well secreted enzyme that naturally lacks the carbohydrate-binding module, and constructed strains expressing combinations of <it>cbh1 </it>and <it>cbh2 </it>genes. Though there was significant variability in the enzyme levels produced, up to approximately 0.3 g/L CBH1 and approximately 1 g/L CBH2 could be produced in high cell density fermentations. Furthermore, we could show activation of the unfolded protein response as a result of cellobiohydrolase production. Finally, we report fermentation of microcrystalline cellulose (Avicel™) to ethanol by CBH-producing <it>S. cerevisiae </it>strains with the addition of beta-glucosidase.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Gene or protein specific features and compatibility with the host are important for efficient cellobiohydrolase secretion in yeast. The present work demonstrated that production of both CBH1 and CBH2 could be improved to levels where the barrier to CBH sufficiency in the hydrolysis of cellulose was overcome.</p

Production of l-lactic acid by the yeast Candida sonorensis expressing heterologous bacterial and fungal lactate dehydrogenases

BACKGROUND: Polylactic acid is a renewable raw material that is increasingly used in the manufacture of bioplastics, which offers a more sustainable alternative to materials derived from fossil resources. Both lactic acid bacteria and genetically engineered yeast have been implemented in commercial scale in biotechnological production of lactic acid. In the present work, genes encoding l-lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) of Lactobacillus helveticus, Bacillus megaterium and Rhizopus oryzae were expressed in a new host organism, the non-conventional yeast Candida sonorensis, with or without the competing ethanol fermentation pathway. RESULTS: Each LDH strain produced substantial amounts of lactate, but the properties of the heterologous LDH affected the distribution of carbon between lactate and by-products significantly, which was reflected in extra-and intracellular metabolite concentrations. Under neutralizing conditions C. sonorensis expressing L. helveticus LDH accumulated lactate up to 92 g/l at a yield of 0.94 g/g glucose, free of ethanol, in minimal medium containing 5 g/l dry cell weight. In rich medium with a final pH of 3.8, 49 g/l lactate was produced. The fermentation pathway was modified in some of the strains studied by deleting either one or both of the pyruvate decarboxylase encoding genes, PDC1 and PDC2. The deletion of both PDC genes together abolished ethanol production and did not result in significantly reduced growth characteristic to Saccharomyces cerevisiae deleted of PDC1 and PDC5. CONCLUSIONS: We developed an organism without previous record of genetic engineering to produce L-lactic acid to a high concentration, introducing a novel host for the production of an industrially important metabolite, and opening the way for exploiting C. sonorensis in additional biotechnological applications. Comparison of metabolite production, growth, and enzyme activities in a representative set of transformed strains expressing different LDH genes in the presence and absence of a functional ethanol pathway, at neutral and low pH, generated a comprehensive picture of lactic acid production in this yeast. The findings are applicable in generation other lactic acid producing yeast, thus providing a significant contribution to the field of biotechnical production of lactic acid

Methods and materials for the synthesis of organic products

The invention provides methods and materials related to the prodn. of org. products. Specifically, the invention provides various recombinant yeast cells, methods for culturing yeast cells, methods for making yeast cells, nucleic acid constructs, and methods and materials for producing various org. products. [on SciFinder (R)

Development of pyrF-Based Genetic System for Targeted Gene Deletion in Clostridium thermocellum and Creation of a pta Mutant ▿ †

We report development of a genetic system for making targeted gene knockouts in Clostridium thermocellum, a thermophilic anaerobic bacterium that rapidly solubilizes cellulose. A toxic uracil analog, 5-fluoroorotic acid (5-FOA), was used to select for deletion of the pyrF gene. The ΔpyrF strain is a uracil auxotroph that could be restored to a prototroph via ectopic expression of pyrF from a plasmid, providing a positive genetic selection. Furthermore, 5-FOA was used to select against plasmid-expressed pyrF, creating a negative selection for plasmid loss. This technology was used to delete a gene involved in organic acid production, namely pta, which encodes the enzyme phosphotransacetylase. The C. thermocellum Δpta strain did not produce acetate. These results are the first examples of targeted homologous recombination and metabolic engineering in C. thermocellum, a microbe that holds an exciting and promising future in the biofuel industry and development of sustainable energy resources