What is the progress of optimization of metabolic pathways for acetic acid synthesis by microbial engineering?

Microbial engineering synthesis of acetic acid metabolic pathway optimization progress?

With the increasing global attention to green energy and sustainable development, the application of microbial engineering in industrial production has attracted wide attention. Among them, the use of microbial synthesis of acetic acid as an efficient and environmentally friendly biological manufacturing technology has made significant progress in recent years. Through the optimization of metabolic pathways, scientists have continuously improved the production, production efficiency and cost-effectiveness of acetic acid. This article will analyze the latest progress of microbial engineering synthesis of acetic acid from three aspects: the strategy of metabolic pathway optimization, technical progress and future development direction.

1. metabolic pathway optimization strategy

The core of microbial engineering synthesis of acetic acid is to optimize its metabolic pathways to improve carbon source utilization and product generation efficiency. The synthesis of acetic acid is mainly through two ways: one is to produce acetic acid through ethanol oxidation, and the other is to synthesize acetic acid directly through sugar fermentation. To optimize metabolic pathways, researchers typically employ the following strategies:

1. genetic engineering optimization The efficiency of metabolic pathways can be significantly improved by site-directed mutagenesis or overexpression of genes for key enzymes. For example, by optimizing the activities of alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and ethanol oxidase (AOx), the conversion of ethanol to acetic acid can be improved. Removing metabolic pathways unrelated to acetic acid synthesis can reduce energy waste and focus metabolic flux more on target products.

2. metabolic engineering reconstruction By introducing exogenous genes or modifying the metabolic network of host bacteria, a more efficient pathway for acetic acid synthesis can be constructed. For example, synthetic biology techniques are used to integrate metabolic pathways originally present in other species into the target strain, thereby increasing the production of acetic acid.

3. Modular Design of Metabolic Pathway Decompose the acetic acid synthesis pathway into multiple modules, and optimize the efficiency of each step through a modular design. This strategy can flexibly adjust the metabolic pathway and adapt to the input of different carbon sources and the demand of products.

2. metabolic pathway optimization technology progress

In recent years, metabolic pathway optimization technology has made a number of breakthroughs in the field of microbial engineering synthesis of acetic acid, mainly reflected in the following aspects:

1. Development of High-yield Strains Through genome editing and metabolic engineering, researchers have successfully engineered a variety of microorganisms with efficient acetic acid production capabilities. For example, the use of gene editing technology (such as CRISPR-Cas9) to knock out the metabolic pathway that competes with acetic acid synthesis significantly improves the specificity of the metabolic pathway and the yield of the product.

2. Metabolic Flow Analysis and Regulation Metabolic flux analysis (Metabolic Flux Analysis, MFA) is widely used to study the dynamic changes of metabolic pathways and to guide the optimization of metabolic pathways. By monitoring the concentration and flow of metabolic intermediates in real time, researchers can more accurately adjust the parameters of metabolic pathways and optimize the efficiency of acetic acid synthesis.

3. Applications of Synthetic Biology Synthetic biology provides new tools and methods for the reconstruction of metabolic pathways. For example, by designing synthetic gene circuits, dynamic regulation of metabolic pathways can be achieved to optimize the efficiency of acetic acid synthesis at different growth stages.

3. future development direction

Although significant progress has been made in the optimization of metabolic pathways for the synthesis of acetic acid by microbial engineering, there are still some key issues that need to be resolved. Future research directions may include:

1. optimization of carbon source utilization efficiency Traditional strains such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae usually use glucose as the main carbon source, but their utilization efficiency of other carbon sources is low. Through metabolic engineering, the development of strains that can efficiently utilize non-carbohydrate carbon sources (such as cellulose, ethanol, etc.) will further reduce production costs.

2. Improve product separation efficiency At present, the separation and purification process of acetic acid still occupies a high cost. Through metabolic engineering optimization, the design of strains that can stably express acetic acid in the fermentation broth, or the development of new separation technologies (such as ion exchange resins, membrane separation, etc.) will significantly reduce the separation cost.

3. Exploring new metabolic pathways By mining the new metabolic pathways existing in nature, or using artificial intelligence technology to design new synthetic pathways, it is expected to further improve the synthesis efficiency and yield of acetic acid.

4. Conclusion

The optimization of metabolic pathways for the synthesis of acetic acid by microbial engineering is one of the hotspots in the current industrial biotechnology research. Through genetic engineering, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology and other technical means, scientists continue to promote the efficiency of acetic acid synthesis. With the deepening of research and the maturity of technology, microbial engineering synthesis of acetic acid is expected to play a greater role in the field of green chemical industry, bio-energy and other fields, and make important contributions to sustainable development. In the future, with the continuous emergence of new technologies, the production and application of acetic acid will enter a new stage of development.