About this Research Topic

Background

The Gram-positive soil bacterium Corynebacterium glutamicum was discovered about 60 years ago as an L-glutamate producer, which arguably initiated the era of industrial amino acid fermentation. Several characteristics of C. glutamicum make it particularly interesting for industrial biotechnology, such as its GRAS (generally regarded as safe) status, fast growth with relatively few nutrient requirements, and capability of utilizing sugars, sugar alcohols, organic acids, and aromatic compounds. With the development of CRISPR-based genome editing methods and systems and synthetic biology tools, C. glutamicum has been extensively engineered for the bioproduction of biochemicals, biofuels, natural products, proteins, and the biodegradation of environmental pollutants. It is estimated that products generated via C. glutamicum fermentation will reach a market size of over US$20 billion by 2020.

After years of studies, the research community has gained a wealth of knowledge of C. glutamicum metabolism and physiology. However, over 40% genes of the type strain ATCC 13032 have not been experimentally characterized for their biological functions. More research is in demand to bring fresh insights into the metabolic and regulation mechanisms underlying the superior industrial performance of C. glutamicum. The multiplex genome engineering efficiency, stress tolerance, product spectrum, and capability of utilizing recalcitrant carbon sources (e.g. C1 feedstocks and non-food biomass) of C. glutamicum need to be further improved to make this industrial workhorse a better chassis for synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, and bioremediation.

Types of manuscripts to be featured mainly include Original Research, Brief Research Reports and Reviews relevant to the topic. Topics covered may include, but are not limited to:

• Deciphering the biological function of cryptic genes of C. glutamicum
• Engineering C. glutamicum to synthesize useful products (biochemicals, biofuels, plant natural products, proteins, etc.) from renewable resources
• Engineering or evolving C. glutamicum for enhanced stress tolerance, substrate uptake, or pollutant degradation
• Developing novel genome engineering technologies or genetic tools for C. glutamicum
• Designing, building, and testing of C. glutamicum genome-scale metabolic networks or models
• Standardization of synthetic biological parts and devices for C. glutamicum synthetic biology
• C. glutamicum genome reduction or synthesis

Keywords: Corynebacterium glutamicum, Synthetic Biology, Biomanufacturing, Bioremediation, Metabolic Engineering

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