{"title":"Improvement of alka(e)ne production in Escherichia coli by the 3′-UTR engineering of acyl-ACP reductase","authors":"Jiahu Han, Takuya Matsumoto, Ryosuke Yamada, Hiroyasu Ogino","doi":"10.1016/j.bej.2025.109725","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The sustainable and efficient production of biofuels has generated considerable interest in the microbial synthesis of alka(e)nes, which are promising alternatives to fossil fuels. Acyl-ACP reductase (AAR) is a critical enzyme in the alka(e)ne biosynthetic pathway, and its poor solubility in <em>Escherichia coli</em> is a major bottleneck during the optimization of production yields. The approaches for enhancing protein solubility typically include the fusion of solubility tags at the N- or C-termini of target proteins, which can sometimes interfere with protein function or stability. The present study developed a novel strategy that leverages the regulatory potential of 3′-untranslated regions (3′-UTRs) by integrating the sequence coding thioredoxin (Trx), small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO), maltose-binding protein (MBP), or N-utilization substance protein A (NusA), into the 3′-UTR of the <em>AAR</em> gene. The strategy aimed to enhance the stability of AAR mRNA for improving the solubility and expression of AAR without altering its primary structure. The findings revealed that this strategy significantly enhanced the solubility and expression levels of AAR in <em>Escherichia coli</em>, which markedly increased alka(e)ne production. This method has potential widespread applications in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. The study paves the way for the development of more efficient strategies aimed at producing biofuels, and highlights the untapped potential of the 3′-UTR engineering strategy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":8766,"journal":{"name":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","volume":"219 ","pages":"Article 109725"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-03-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Biochemical Engineering Journal","FirstCategoryId":"5","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369703X25000993","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BIOTECHNOLOGY & APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The sustainable and efficient production of biofuels has generated considerable interest in the microbial synthesis of alka(e)nes, which are promising alternatives to fossil fuels. Acyl-ACP reductase (AAR) is a critical enzyme in the alka(e)ne biosynthetic pathway, and its poor solubility in Escherichia coli is a major bottleneck during the optimization of production yields. The approaches for enhancing protein solubility typically include the fusion of solubility tags at the N- or C-termini of target proteins, which can sometimes interfere with protein function or stability. The present study developed a novel strategy that leverages the regulatory potential of 3′-untranslated regions (3′-UTRs) by integrating the sequence coding thioredoxin (Trx), small ubiquitin-like modifier (SUMO), maltose-binding protein (MBP), or N-utilization substance protein A (NusA), into the 3′-UTR of the AAR gene. The strategy aimed to enhance the stability of AAR mRNA for improving the solubility and expression of AAR without altering its primary structure. The findings revealed that this strategy significantly enhanced the solubility and expression levels of AAR in Escherichia coli, which markedly increased alka(e)ne production. This method has potential widespread applications in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. The study paves the way for the development of more efficient strategies aimed at producing biofuels, and highlights the untapped potential of the 3′-UTR engineering strategy.
期刊介绍:
The Biochemical Engineering Journal aims to promote progress in the crucial chemical engineering aspects of the development of biological processes associated with everything from raw materials preparation to product recovery relevant to industries as diverse as medical/healthcare, industrial biotechnology, and environmental biotechnology.
The Journal welcomes full length original research papers, short communications, and review papers* in the following research fields:
Biocatalysis (enzyme or microbial) and biotransformations, including immobilized biocatalyst preparation and kinetics
Biosensors and Biodevices including biofabrication and novel fuel cell development
Bioseparations including scale-up and protein refolding/renaturation
Environmental Bioengineering including bioconversion, bioremediation, and microbial fuel cells
Bioreactor Systems including characterization, optimization and scale-up
Bioresources and Biorefinery Engineering including biomass conversion, biofuels, bioenergy, and optimization
Industrial Biotechnology including specialty chemicals, platform chemicals and neutraceuticals
Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering including bioartificial organs, cell encapsulation, and controlled release
Cell Culture Engineering (plant, animal or insect cells) including viral vectors, monoclonal antibodies, recombinant proteins, vaccines, and secondary metabolites
Cell Therapies and Stem Cells including pluripotent, mesenchymal and hematopoietic stem cells; immunotherapies; tissue-specific differentiation; and cryopreservation
Metabolic Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology including OMICS, bioinformatics, in silico biology, and metabolic flux analysis
Protein Engineering including enzyme engineering and directed evolution.