Heterologous mevalonate pathways for the production of the isoprenoid limonene (C10), a potential jet fuel precursor, were expressed in Escherichia coli under various conditions. An optimal set of gene operons for the production of limonene were selected and expressed in E. coli using 3 different plasmid systems under 9 different conditions. Expression levels of each enzyme of the pathway and limonene production levels were measured for each of the 27 different scenarios using LC-MS/MS targeted-proteomics and GC-MS, respectively. Proteomics versus production data analysis for each condition suggests that both an overexpression of the bottom portion of the pathway and a balanced expression of the rest of the enzymes are keys to reach high production titers. This correlation analysis might be used to predict the optimal balanced expression profile and therefore to direct the design of new expression systems through metabolic engineering.

Microbial limonene production: Proteomics-production correlation analysis as a tool to direct metabolic engineering of heterologous pathways

245th National Meeting (2013)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.