P122: Redesigning Escherichia coli metabolism for efficient anaerobic conversion of biodiesel waste glycerol to biofuels and biochemicals

Biodiesel waste glycerol is a potentially cheap, abundant, and renewable feedstock that can be used to produce high-valued biofuels and biochemicals through microbial conversion routes. We have previously designed, constructed, and characterized an optimal E. coli strain TCS099/pLOI297 for efficient conversion of glycerol to ethanol with a yield close to the theoretical limit [1]. In this study, we have redesigned the strain metabolism for optimal anaerobic conversion of glycerol to other useful biochemicals and biofuels, e.g., 1,3-propandiol and 1-propanol.  We have reconstructed synthetic 1,3-propandiol- and 1-propanol-producing pathways by using novel genes isolated from a novel Klebsiella pneumoniae from Brazil. Here we will present the design, construction, and characterization of novel engineered E. coli strains for optimal production of 1,3-propandiol and 1-propanol from glycerol.

1.         Trinh CT, Srienc F: Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for efficient conversion of glycerol to ethanol. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2009, 75:6696-6705.