Production of 3-hydroxypropionic acid from glycerol by a novel recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 strain

• Published in: Process biochemistry (1991) 2008-12, Vol.43 (12), p.1440-1446
• Main Authors: Raj, Subramanian Mohan, Rathnasingh, Chelladurai, Jo, Ji-Eun, Park, Sunghoon
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 3-Hydroxypropionaldehyde; 3-Hydroxypropionic acid; Aldehyde dehydrogenase; Escherichia coli; Glycerol; Glycerol dehydratase; Klebsiella pneumoniae; Recombinant E. coli
• ISSN: 1359-5113; 1873-3298
• DOI: 10.1016/j.procbio.2008.04.027

3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) is an important platform chemical from which several commodity and specialty chemicals can be generated. The present investigation focuses on the construction and evaluation of a recombinant strain Escherichia coli SH254 that produces 3-HP from glycerol. The strain was developed by cloning two genes, dhaB of Klebsiella pneumoniae DSM 2026 encoding glycerol dehydratase and aldH of E. coli K-12 MG1655 encoding aldehyde dehydrogenase, respectively. In vitro assays of crude enzyme extract of glycerol dehydratase (DhaB) showed 37.0 U mg −1 protein on glycerol with coenzyme B 12, and partially purified aldehyde dehydrogenase (AldH) exhibited 22.8 U mg −1 protein on 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) with NAD + as a cofactor. When cultivated aerobically on a glycerol medium containing yeast extract, the recombinant E. coli SH254 produced 3-HP at a maximum of 6.5 mmol l −1 (0.58 g l −1). The highest specific rate and yield of 3-HP production were estimated as 6.6 mmol g −1 cdw h −1 and 0.48 mol mol −1 glycerol, respectively. Although not optimized extensively, this study is encouraging for further development of a bioprocess to produce 3-HP from glycerol.