<br/>In 2008, we reported the first incorporation of lactate (D-LA) into the 3-hydroxybutyrate (3HB) polymeric backbone in the microbial factory by using our D-LA-polymerizing enzyme (LPE). LPE was one of the artificially evolved PHA synthases through the long-term enzyme engineering study. In the second generation, LPE has led us to further expand the range of structural diversity of PHA members other than D-LA-based polymers. As second targets, glycolic acid and D-2-hydroxybutyrate can also be polymerized by LPE to generate new copolymers. Like these, I expected to synthesize the chiral copolymers with various monomer compositions, owing to the extremely high enantio-selectivity and broad substrate specificity of LPE. In this conference, I will talk about the overview of biosynthesis and properties of LPE-catalyzed polymers.<br/>In contrast to intracellular production of high molecular weight polymers, I have been thinking about the possibility of “SECRETION” of polymerized products by microbial platform for long time. This should be a promising issue to overcome the cell volume limitation in the large amount of production of natural or chemical polymers (oligomers). Fortunately, we have met to the “SECRETION” of low-molecular-weight D-LA-based polymers [or D-LA-based oligomers (D-LAOs)]. As a second topic, I will talk about the first observation of microbial secretion of D-LAOs and its advanced microbial secretion platform through the chain transfer reaction and modified cultivation condition.

Synthetic biology for the lactate-based polymers and oligomers: Intracellular and secretory production

254th National Meeting (2017)

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