Kyeong Rok Choi, Zi Wei Luo, Gi Bae Kim, Hanwen Xu, Sang Yup Lee
{"title":"A microbial process for the production of benzyl acetate","authors":"Kyeong Rok Choi, Zi Wei Luo, Gi Bae Kim, Hanwen Xu, Sang Yup Lee","doi":"10.1038/s44286-023-00022-0","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Benzyl acetate is a valuable aromatic ester compound with diverse applications in the flavor and fragrance industries. However, its current synthesis primarily relies on inefficient plant extraction methods or chemical/enzymatic processes that depend on non-renewable substrates. Here we report a sustainable approach to benzyl acetate production from d-glucose using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains. We explored both benzoic acid-dependent and -independent synthetic pathways by either dividing the pathway between upstream and downstream strain pairs or by introducing the complete pathway into single, integrated strains. In an optimized two-phase extractive fermentation process, a delayed co-culture of an upstream strain that converts d-glucose to benzoic acid and a downstream strain that transforms benzoic acid into benzyl acetate yielded 2,238.3 ± 171.9 mg l−1 of benzyl acetate from d-glucose in 108 h (or 2,204.0 ± 192.2 mg l−1 in 96 h). The economic competitiveness of the microbial process for sustainable benzyl acetate production was also assessed by techno-economic analysis. Benzyl acetate is a valuable aromatic ester compound used in flavorings and fragrances. Now, a microbial approach is developed to produce benzyl acetate from d-glucose using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains and exploiting delayed co-culture strategies.","PeriodicalId":501699,"journal":{"name":"Nature Chemical Engineering","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-02-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-023-00022-0.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nature Chemical Engineering","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.nature.com/articles/s44286-023-00022-0","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Benzyl acetate is a valuable aromatic ester compound with diverse applications in the flavor and fragrance industries. However, its current synthesis primarily relies on inefficient plant extraction methods or chemical/enzymatic processes that depend on non-renewable substrates. Here we report a sustainable approach to benzyl acetate production from d-glucose using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains. We explored both benzoic acid-dependent and -independent synthetic pathways by either dividing the pathway between upstream and downstream strain pairs or by introducing the complete pathway into single, integrated strains. In an optimized two-phase extractive fermentation process, a delayed co-culture of an upstream strain that converts d-glucose to benzoic acid and a downstream strain that transforms benzoic acid into benzyl acetate yielded 2,238.3 ± 171.9 mg l−1 of benzyl acetate from d-glucose in 108 h (or 2,204.0 ± 192.2 mg l−1 in 96 h). The economic competitiveness of the microbial process for sustainable benzyl acetate production was also assessed by techno-economic analysis. Benzyl acetate is a valuable aromatic ester compound used in flavorings and fragrances. Now, a microbial approach is developed to produce benzyl acetate from d-glucose using metabolically engineered Escherichia coli strains and exploiting delayed co-culture strategies.