Experimental evolution and gene knockout studies reveal AcrA-mediated isobutanol tolerance in Ralstonia eutropha.

Isobutanol (IBT) has attracted much attention from researchers as a next generation drop-in biofuel. Ralstonia eutropha is a gram-negative bacterium which naturally produces polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), and has been reported to produce IBT after metabolic engineering. Similar to other microbes, R. eutropha experiences toxicity from branched-chain alcohols and is unable to grow in the presence of IBT concentrations higher than 0.5% (v v(-1)). Such low tolerance greatly limits the ability of R. eutropha to grow and produce IBT. In order to study toxicity to the cells, IBT-tolerant strains were developed by experimental evolution, revealing that two genes, previously described as being related to IBT tolerance in Escherichia coli (acrA and acrA6), also presented mutations in R. eutropha evolved strains. The effect on the physiology of the cells of in-frame deletions of each of these genes was assessed in wild type and engineered IBT-producing strains in an attempt to reproduce a tolerant phenotype. The mutant strains' ability to tolerate, consume, and produce IBT were also analyzed. Although deletions of acrA6 and acrA did not significantly improve R. eutropha growth in the presence of IBT, these deletions improved cell survival in the presence of high concentrations of IBT in the extracellular milieu. Moreover, an in-frame acrA deletion in an engineered IBT-producing R. eutropha enhanced the strain's ability to produce IBT, which could potentially be associated with enhanced survival at high IBT concentrations.

Insights into bacterial CO2 metabolism revealed by the characterization of four carbonic anhydrases in Ralstonia eutropha H16.

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) enzymes catalyze the interconversion of CO2 and bicarbonate. These enzymes play important roles in cellular metabolism, CO2 transport, ion transport, and internal pH regulation. Understanding the metabolic role of CAs in the chemolithoautotropic bacterium Ralstonia eutropha is important for the development of high performance fermentation processes based on the bacterium's capability to fix carbon using the Calvin-Benson-Bassham (CBB) cycle. Analysis of the R. eutropha H16 genome sequence revealed the presence of four CA genes: can, can2, caa and cag. We evaluated the importance of each of the CAs in the metabolism of R. eutropha by examination of growth and enzyme activity in gene deletion, complementation, and overexpression strains. All four purified CAs were capable of performing the interconversion of CO2 and HCO3-, although the equilibrium towards the formation of CO2 or HCO3- differs with each CA. Deletion of can, encoding a ß-CA, affected the growth of R. eutropha; however the growth defect could be compensated by adding CO2 to the culture. Deletion of the caa, encoding an α-CA, had the strongest deleterious influence on cell growth. Strains with deletion or overexpression of can2 or cag genes exhibited similar behavior to wild type under most of the conditions tested. In this work, Caa was studied in greater detail using microscopy and complementation experiments, which helped confirm its periplasmic localization and determine its importance for robust growth of R. eutropha. A hypothesis for the coordinated role of these four enzymes in the metabolism of R. eutropha is proposed.

Studies on the production of branched-chain alcohols in engineered Ralstonia eutropha.

Wild-type Ralstonia eutropha H16 produces polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as an intracellular carbon storage material during nutrient stress in the presence of excess carbon. In this study, the excess carbon was redirected in engineered strains from PHB storage to the production of isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol (branched-chain higher alcohols). These branched-chain higher alcohols can directly substitute for fossil-based fuels and be employed within the current infrastructure. Various mutant strains of R. eutropha with isobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase activity, in combination with the overexpression of plasmid-borne, native branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway genes and the overexpression of heterologous ketoisovalerate decarboxylase gene, were employed for the biosynthesis of isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol. Production of these branched-chain alcohols was initiated during nitrogen or phosphorus limitation in the engineered R. eutropha. One mutant strain not only produced over 180 mg/L branched-chain alcohols in flask culture, but also was significantly more tolerant of isobutanol toxicity than wild-type R. eutropha. After the elimination of genes encoding three potential carbon sinks (ilvE, bkdAB, and aceE), the production titer improved to 270 mg/L isobutanol and 40 mg/L 3-methyl-1-butanol. Semicontinuous flask cultivation was utilized to minimize the toxicity caused by isobutanol while supplying cells with sufficient nutrients. Under this semicontinuous flask cultivation, the R. eutropha mutant grew and produced more than 14 g/L branched-chain alcohols over the duration of 50 days. These results demonstrate that R. eutropha carbon flux can be redirected from PHB to branched-chain alcohols and that engineered R. eutropha can be cultivated over prolonged periods of time for product biosynthesis.

Model plants for studying the interaction between Methylobacterium mesophilicum and Xylella fastidiosa.

Over the last few years, endophytic bacterial communities associated with citrus have been studied as key components interacting with Xylella fastidiosa. In this study, we investigated the possible interaction between the citrus endophyte Methylobacterium mesophilicum SR1.6/6 and X. fastidiosa in model plants such as Catharanthus roseus (Madagaskar periwinkle) and Nicotiana clevelandii (Clevelands tobacco). The aim of this study was to establish the fate of M. mesophilicum SR1.6/6 after inoculation of C. roseus and N. clevelandii plants, using PCR-DGGE (polymerase chain reaction--denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis) and plating techniques. Shifts in the indigenous endophytic bacterial communities were observed in plants inoculated with strain SR1.6/6, using specific primers targeting alpha- and beta-Proteobacteria. Cells of strain SR1.6/6 were observed in a biofilm structure on the root and hypocotyl surfaces of in vitro seedlings inoculated with M. mesophilicum SR1.6/6. This emphasizes the importance of these tissues as main points of entrance for this organism. The results showed that C. roseus and N. clevelandii could be used as model plants to study the interaction between M. mesophilicum and X. fastidiosa.