Metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of structurally diverse esters

Conventional petroleum-based chemical industry, although economically still thriving, is now facing great socio-political challenges due to the increasing concerns on climate change and limited availability of fossil resources. In this context, microbial production of fuels and commodity oleochemica...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Applied microbiology and biotechnology 2017-04, Vol.101 (8), p.3043-3053
Main Authors: Menendez-Bravo, Simón, Comba, Santiago, Gramajo, Hugo, Arabolaza, Ana
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acids
Acyltransferases - genetics
Acyltransferases - metabolism
Alcohol
Alcohols
Biofuels
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biosynthesis
Biotechnology
Chemical compounds
Chemical industry
Climate change
Consumer products
Cosmetics
Engineering
Enzymes
Escherichia coli - enzymology
Escherichia coli - genetics
Escherichia coli - metabolism
Esters
Esters - chemistry
Esters - metabolism
Fatty acids
Fatty Acids - metabolism
Fatty Alcohols - metabolism
Life Sciences
Lubricants & lubrication
Metabolic Engineering - methods
Metabolic Networks and Pathways - genetics
Metabolism
Microbial Genetics and Genomics
Microbiology
Microorganisms
Mini-Review
Petroleum engineering
Petroleum industry
Physiological aspects
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - enzymology
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - genetics
Saccharomyces cerevisiae - metabolism
Studies
Waxes
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Summary:Conventional petroleum-based chemical industry, although economically still thriving, is now facing great socio-political challenges due to the increasing concerns on climate change and limited availability of fossil resources. In this context, microbial production of fuels and commodity oleochemicals from renewable biomass is being considered a promising sustainable alternative. The increasing understanding of cellular systems has enabled the redesign of microbial metabolism for the production of compounds present in many daily consumer products such as esters, waxes, fatty acids (FA) and fatty alcohols. Small aliphatic esters are important flavour and fragrance elements while long-chain esters, composed of FA esterified to fatty alcohols, are widely used in lubricant formulas, paints, coatings and cosmetics. Here, we review recent advances in the biosynthesis of these types of mono alkyl esters in vivo. We focus on the critical ester bond-forming enzymes and the latest metabolic engineering strategies employed for the biosynthesis of a wide range of products ranging from low-molecular-weight esters to waxy compounds.
ISSN:0175-7598
1432-0614
DOI:10.1007/s00253-017-8179-7