Propionibacteria are well-known for their various industrial applications, however not much is known about their genetics. There have been few studies on their metabolic engineering, mostly aiming at vitamin B12 production. n-Propanol is a primary alcohol with wide uses in industry and is a promising biofuel. However, its microbial production is limited by the low product yield. In this study, a Propionibacterium sp. mutant overexpressing an aldehyde alcohol dehydrogenase to convert propionyl-CoA, an intermediate in the dicarboxylic acid pathway, to n-propanol was developed. The results showed that n-propanol production from glucose was boosted by switching to a more reduced carbon source. This provides a novel way for n-propanol production using metabolically engineered propionibacteria.

n-Propanol production by metabolic engineering of propionibacteria

245th National Meeting (2013)

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