Comprehensive evaluation for the one-pot biosynthesis of butyl acetate by using microbial mono- and co-cultures

Yang Lv,Weiliang Dong,Jiasheng Lu,Yujia Jiang,Jie Zhou,Fengxue Xin,Hao Gao,Min Jiang,Wenming Zhang

doi:10.1186/s13068-021-02053-2

Abstract

BackgroundButyl acetate has shown wide applications in food, cosmetics, medicine, and biofuel sectors. These short-chain fatty acid esters can be produced by either chemical or biological synthetic process with corresponding alcohols and acids. Currently, biosynthesis of short chain fatty acid esters, such as butyl butyrate, through microbial fermentation systems has been achieved; however, few studies regarding biosynthesis of butyl acetate were reported.ResultsIn this study, three proof-of-principle strategies for the one-pot butyl acetate production from glucose through microbial fermentation were designed and evaluated. (1) 7.3 g/L of butyl acetate was synthesized by butanol-producing Clostridium acetobutylicum NJ4 with the supplementation of exogenous acetic acid; (2) With the addition of butanol, 5.76 g/L of butyl acetate can be synthesized by acetate-producing Actinobacillus succinogenes130z (ΔpflA); (3) Microbial co-culture of C. acetobutylicum NJ4 and A. succinogenes130z (ΔpflA) can directly produce 2.2 g/L of butyl acetate from glucose by using microbial co-culture system with the elimination of precursors. Through the further immobilization of A. succinogenes130z (ΔpflA), butyl acetate production was improved to 2.86 g/L.ConclusionDifferent microbial mono- and co-culture systems for butyl acetate biosynthesis were successfully constructed. These strategies may be extended to the biosynthesis of a wide range of esters, especially to some longer chain ones.

Highlights

Butyl acetate has shown wide applications in food, cosmetics, medicine, and biofuel sectors
It is known that lipases can directly catalyze acetic acid and butanol to butyl acetate, and the in situ extraction of butyl acetate could further improve the butyl acetate production and maintain catalytic activities of lipase rather than hydrolytic activities [15, 20]
A genetically modified C. beijerinckii has been constructed for butyl acetate production, which gave the highest 5.57 Glucose butyl acetate (g/L) of butyl acetate from 38.2 g/L of glucose within 48 h; 5 g/L of acetic acid was still needed to be supplemented to boost the final butyl acetate production [7]

Summary

Introduction

Butyl acetate has shown wide applications in food, cosmetics, medicine, and biofuel sectors These short-chain fatty acid esters can be produced by either chemical or biological synthetic process with corresponding alcohols and acids. Short-chain fatty acid esters are a group of high valueadded chemicals derived from alcohols and carboxylic acids [1,2,3] These esters naturally exist in some flowers and fruits, which have been widely applied in food, cosmetics, and medicine industries [4,5,6]. The biological synthesis of some short-chain fatty acid esters, such as butyl butyrate has been achieved through microbial fermentation process [1, 15, 19]. A cognate “diamond-shaped” Escherichia coli consortium was metabolically constructed, which was capable of producing 7.2 g/L of butyl butyrate, resenting the highest butyl butyrate production by using microbial co-culture system [17]

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Results

Discussion

Conclusion