Real-Time monitoring of intracellular wax ester metabolism

Microbial Cell Factories

Research

Ville Santala¹  Matti Karp¹  Elena Efimova¹  Suvi Santala¹ 

[1] Department of Chemistry and Bioengineering, Tampere University of Technology, Korkeakoulunkatu 8, FI-33720, Tampere, Finland;

关键词: wax ester metabolism;    Acinetobacter baylyi;    long chain aldehyde;    bacterial luciferase;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2859-10-75

 received in 2011-07-09, accepted in 2011-09-30,  发布年份 2011

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundWax esters are industrially relevant molecules exploited in several applications of oleochemistry and food industry. At the moment, the production processes mostly rely on chemical synthesis from rather expensive starting materials, and therefore solutions are sought from biotechnology. Bacterial wax esters are attractive alternatives, and especially the wax ester metabolism of Acinetobacter sp. has been extensively studied. However, the lack of suitable tools for rapid and simple monitoring of wax ester metabolism in vivo has partly restricted the screening and analyses of potential hosts and optimal conditions.ResultsBased on sensitive and specific detection of intracellular long-chain aldehydes, specific intermediates of wax ester synthesis, bacterial luciferase (LuxAB) was exploited in studying the wax ester metabolism in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1. Luminescence was detected in the cultivation of the strain producing wax esters, and the changes in signal levels could be linked to corresponding cell growth and wax ester synthesis phases.ConclusionsThe monitoring system showed correlation between wax ester synthesis pattern and luminescent signal. The system shows potential for real-time screening purposes and studies on bacterial wax esters, revealing new aspects to dynamics and role of wax ester metabolism in bacteria.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Santala et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2011