Efficient Biosynthesis of Ectoine in Recombinant <i>Escherichia coli</i> by Biobrick Method

oleh: Muhammad Naeem, Huiling Yuan, Suya Luo, Simei Zhang, Xinyue Wei, Guangzheng He, Baohua Zhao, Jiansong Ju

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-08-01

Deskripsi

Ectoine is a compatible solute naturally produced in some halophilic bacteria as a protective agent for survival in salty environments. It has gained special interest as a therapeutic agent in the pharmaceutical and healthcare sectors for the treatment of different diseases. Ectoine mainly produced by bacterial milking, chemical, and fed-batch fermentation methods under a high-salt medium. Unfortunately, the ectoine yield through these methods is still too low to meet high industrial demand, causing salinity issues. The biobrick method was potentially utilized for efficient ectoine biosynthesis under a low-salt medium with different conditions in <i>E. coli</i> BL21(DE3) harboring the pET-22bNS-EctA-EctB-EctC plasmid. Firstly, three genes, L-2,4-diamino-butyric acid acetyltransferase (<i>ectA</i>)<i>,</i> L-2,4-diaminobutyric acid transaminase (<i>ectB</i>), and ectoine synthase (<i>ectC</i>) from <i>Bacillus pseudofirmus</i> OF4, were precisely assembled and expressed into <i>E. coli</i> BL21(DE3). After optimizing the reaction conditions in a whole-cell catalytic reaction [50 mM of the sodium phosphate buffer (pH~7.5) containing 300 mM L-aspartic acid, 100 mM glycerol, 1/20 g/mL cell pellets], the amount of ectoine in the plasmid pET-22bNS-A<sub>Lac</sub>B<sub>Tac</sub>C<sub>Tac</sub> reached the maximum level of 167.2 mg/mL/d (6.97 mg/mL/h). Moreover, Western blot analysis revealed that high expression levels of EctA and EctC had a significant effect on ectoine biosynthesis, indicating that both proteins might be the key enzymes in ectoine production. We conclude that a high amount of ectoine achieved through the biobrick method and efficiently used for different industrial applications.