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Reprogramming of sugar transport pathways in Escherichia coli using a permeabilized SecY protein‐translocation channel
Author(s) -
Guo Qiang,
Mei Sen,
Xie Chong,
Mi Hao,
Jiang Yang,
Zhang ShiDing,
Tan TianWei,
Fan LiHai
Publication year - 2020
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.27306
Subject(s) - catabolite repression , escherichia coli , biochemistry , sugar , biology , fructose , arabinose , mannose , bacteria , xylose , microbiology and biotechnology , fermentation , gene , genetics , mutant
Abstract In the initial step of sugar metabolism, sugar‐specific transporters play a decisive role in the passage of sugars through plasma membranes into cytoplasm. The SecY complex (SecYEG) in bacteria forms a membrane channel responsible for protein translocation. The present work shows that permeabilized SecY channels can be used as nonspecific sugar transporters in Escherichia coli . SecY with the plug domain deleted allowed the passage of glucose, fructose, mannose, xylose, and arabinose, and, with additional pore‐ring mutations, facilitated lactose transport, indicating that sugar passage via permeabilized SecY was independent of sugar stereospecificity. The engineered E. coli showed rapid growth on a wide spectrum of monosaccharides and benefited from the elimination of transport saturation, improvement in sugar tolerance, reduction in competitive inhibition, and prevention of carbon catabolite repression, which are usually encountered with native sugar uptake systems. The SecY channel is widespread in prokaryotes, so other bacteria may also be engineered to utilize this system for sugar uptake. The SecY channel thus provides a unique sugar passageway for future development of robust cell factories for biotechnological applications.