AUTHOR=Lü Chuanjuan , Ge Yongsheng , Cao Menghao , Guo Xiaoting , Liu Peihai , Gao Chao , Xu Ping , Ma Cuiqing 

TITLE=Metabolic Engineering of Bacillus licheniformis for Production of Acetoin

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2020

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2020.00125

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2020.00125

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=<p>Acetoin is a potential platform compound for a variety of chemicals. <italic>Bacillus licheniformis</italic> MW3, a thermophilic and generally regarded as safe (GRAS) microorganism, can produce 2,3-butanediol with a high concentration, yield, and productivity. In this study, <italic>B. licheniformis</italic> MW3 was metabolic engineered for acetoin production. After deleting two 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenases encoding genes <italic>budC</italic> and <italic>gdh</italic>, an engineered strain <italic>B. licheniformis</italic> MW3 (Δ<italic>budC</italic>Δ<italic>gdh</italic>) was constructed. Using fed-batch fermentation of <italic>B. licheniformis</italic> MW3 (Δ<italic>budC</italic>Δ<italic>gdh</italic>), 64.2 g/L acetoin was produced at a productivity of 2.378 g/[L h] and a yield of 0.412 g/g from 156 g/L glucose in 27 h. The fermentation process exhibited rather high productivity and yield of acetoin, indicating that <italic>B. licheniformis</italic> MW3 (Δ<italic>budC</italic>Δ<italic>gdh</italic>) might be a promising acetoin producer.</p>