Abstract
Since the advent of genetic engineering, Escherichia coli, the most widely studied prokaryotic model organism, and other bacterial species have remained at the forefront of biological research. These ubiquitous microorganisms play an essential role in deciphering complex gene regulation mechanisms, large-scale recombinant protein production, and lately the two emerging areas of biotechnology—synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. Among a myriad of factors affecting prokaryotic gene expression, judicious choice of promoter remains one of the most challenging and impactful decisions in many biological experiments. This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of bacterial promoter engineering, with an emphasis on its applications in heterologous protein production, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. In addition to highlighting relevant advances in these fields, the article facilitates the selection of an appropriate promoter by providing pertinent guidelines and explores the development of complementary databases, bioinformatics tools and promoter standardization procedures. The review ends by providing a quick overview of other emerging technologies and future prospects of this vital research area.
Highlights
Bacteria are widely known as one of the most abundant and ubiquitous groups of living organisms known to man
This review provides a comprehensive overview of the current state of bacterial promoter engineering, with an emphasis on its applications in heterologous protein production, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering
We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of bacterial promoter research and engineering, with an emphasis on their applications in recombinant protein production, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering
Summary
Bacteria are widely known as one of the most abundant and ubiquitous groups of living organisms known to man. ̧ the production of β-galactosidase, lactose permease, and galactoside O-acetyltransferase by Escherichia coli in response to the presence of lactose in a glucose-deficient medium) [1,2] Such a tight control of catabolic, biosynthetic and stress-response pathways (to name but a few) within the cell allows for a highly efficient utilization of naturally scarce resources. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of bacterial promoter research and engineering, with an emphasis on their applications in recombinant protein production, synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. We explore the role of promoters in large-scale protein production, discussing promoter selection criteria and recent advances in this area. This is followed by a summary of scientific endeavors in the field of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering that are centered around transcriptional regulation. The review concludes by highlighting emerging technologies that complement transcriptional regulation and exploring future prospects of this research area
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