Engineering Escherichia coli for the production of industrial important dicarboxylic acids

Abstract

Long-chain α, ω-dicarboxylic acids (LDCAs, ≥ C12) are widely used as raw materials for preparing products such as perfumes, adhesives, polyamides, polyesters, and high quality lubricants. LDCAs are almost exclusively produced from petrochemical sources by chemical conversion processes that have a number of disadvantages. Biotechnology offers an innovative way to overcome the limitations and disadvantages of the chemical processes to make DCA. Fatty acids from renewable feed-stocks could be effectively used as potential starting materials to produce specialty chemicals, such as LCDA. In the present study, α, ω-dicarboxylic acids, specifically C12 and C14 DCA were synthesized in engineered E. coli where in heterologous genes involved in the ω-oxidation pathway which is responsible for the production of DCA directly from fatty acids through a serious of reactions. The biotransformation process was optimized. The engineered E. coli could produce a maximum of 158 mg/L and 410 mg/L of C12 DCA and C14 DCA, respectively in 12 h of whole cell biotransformation from respective fatty acids. The successful heterologous expressed of ω-oxidation pathway system could be employed to produce α, ω-dicarboxylic acids from various plant oils composting of different length of fatty acids.