Tracing metabolism from lignocellulosic biomass and gaseous substrates to products with stable-isotopes

Jacqueline E Gonzalez; Maciek R Antoniewicz

doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2016.10.002

Tracing metabolism from lignocellulosic biomass and gaseous substrates to products with stable-isotopes

Curr Opin Biotechnol. 2017 Feb:43:86-95. doi: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.10.002. Epub 2016 Oct 22.

Authors

Jacqueline E Gonzalez¹, Maciek R Antoniewicz²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Metabolic Engineering and Systems Biology Laboratory, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
² Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Metabolic Engineering and Systems Biology Laboratory, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA. Electronic address: mranton@udel.edu.

PMID: 27780112
DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2016.10.002

Abstract

Engineered microbes offer a practical and sustainable alternative to traditional industrial approaches. To increase the economic feasibility of biological processes, microbial isolates are engineered to take up inexpensive feedstocks (including lignocellulosic biomass, syngas, methane, and carbon dioxide), and convert them into substrates of central metabolism and further into value-added products. To trace the metabolism of these feedstocks into products, isotopic tracers are applied together with isotopomer analysis techniques such as ¹³C-metabolic flux analysis to provide a detailed picture of pathway utilization. Flux data is then integrated with kinetic models and constraint-based approaches to identify metabolic bottlenecks, propose novel metabolic engineering strategies, and improve process performance.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Biomass*
Carbon Isotopes / metabolism*
Gases / analysis
Gases / metabolism*
Lignin / metabolism*
Metabolic Engineering
Metabolic Flux Analysis / methods*
Models, Theoretical

Substances

Carbon Isotopes
Gases
lignocellulose
Lignin