Enhancing the production of 1 3 propanediol from glycerol using engineered lactobacillus reuteri

Abstract

The growth in environmental and economic concerns have led to an increase in the production of green chemicals. This production process involves the utilization of industrial by-products and waste to produce high value commodity chemicals through microbial fermentation. One such green chemical with enormous potential is 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PD), which is a platform chemical, used extensively as a monomer in the manufacture of polyesters and polyurethanes. 1,3-PD also has a plethora of applications in medicines, cosmetics, and food as an anticaking agent, antioxidant, dough strengthener, emulsifier, flavouring agent and adjuvant, humectant, pharmaceutical excipient, preservative, stabilizer and thickener, texturizer and as an ingredient in animal feed. Most of the natural 1,3-PD producers other than few species of Lactobacilli are pathogens or opportunistic pathogens. newlineHence, they require strict process control, making the process undesirable.Also, the products from opportunistic pathogens may not have acceptability in niche applications like medicine and food. Hence, L. reuteri being generally regarded as safe (GRAS), holds immense potential as a 1,3-PD producer and the product could have better acceptability in food and other intended applications.One of the drawbacks of synthesizing 1,3-PD in the native producers and engineered strains, except the engineered E. coli strain developed by DuPont, is that the oxidation and reduction reactions of substrate take place in different pathways. newline newline