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Engineering the iron‐oxidizing chemolithoautotroph Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans for biochemical production
Author(s) -
Kernan Timothy,
Majumdar Sudipta,
Li Xiaozheng,
Guan Jingyang,
West Alan C.,
Banta Scott
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
biotechnology and bioengineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.136
H-Index - 189
eISSN - 1097-0290
pISSN - 0006-3592
DOI - 10.1002/bit.25703
Subject(s) - chemistry , isobutyric acid , bacteria , metabolic engineering , biochemistry , acidithiobacillus , acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans , sulfur , oxidizing agent , biology , bioleaching , organic chemistry , genetics , copper , enzyme
There is growing interest in developing non‐photosynthetic routes for the conversion of CO 2 to fuels and chemicals. One underexplored approach is the transfer of energy to the metabolism of genetically modified chemolithoautotrophic bacteria. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans is an obligate chemolithoautotroph that derives its metabolic energy from the oxidation of iron or sulfur at low pH. Two heterologous biosynthetic pathways have been expressed in A. ferrooxidans to produce either isobutyric acid or heptadecane from CO 2 and the oxidation of Fe 2+ . A sevenfold improvement in productivity of isobutyric acid was obtained through improved media formulations in batch cultures. Steady‐state efficiencies were lower in continuous cultures, likely due to ferric inhibition. If coupled to solar panels, the photon‐to‐fuel efficiency of this proof‐of‐principle process approaches estimates for agriculture‐derived biofuels. These efforts lay the foundation for the utilization of this organism in the exploitation of electrical energy for biochemical synthesis. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2016;113: 189–197. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.