AUTHOR=Liao Chaoyong , Ayansola Hammed , Ma Yanbo , Ito Koichi , Guo Yuming , Zhang Bingkun 

TITLE=Advances in Enhanced Menaquinone-7 Production From Bacillus subtilis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/bioengineering-and-biotechnology/articles/10.3389/fbioe.2021.695526

DOI=10.3389/fbioe.2021.695526

ISSN=2296-4185

ABSTRACT=<p>The production of nutraceutical compounds through biosynthetic approaches has received considerable attention in recent years. For example, Menaquinone-7 (MK-7), a sub-type of Vitamin K2, biosynthesized from <italic>Bacillus subtilis</italic> (<italic>B. subtilis</italic>), proved to be more efficiently produced than the conventional chemical synthesis techniques. This is possible due to the development of <italic>B. subtilis</italic> as a chassis cell during the biosynthesis stages. Hence, it is imperative to provide insights on the <italic>B. subtilis</italic> membrane permeability modifications, biofilm reactors, and fermentation optimization as advanced techniques relevant to MK-7 production. Although the traditional gene-editing method of homologous recombination improves the biosynthetic pathway, CRISPR-Cas9 could potentially resolve the drawbacks of traditional genome editing techniques. For these reasons, future studies should explore the applications of CRISPRi (CRISPR interference) and CRISPRa (CRISPR activation) system gene-editing tools in the MK-7 anabolism pathway.</p>