Reconstruction of an Acetogenic 2,3-Butanediol Pathway Involving a Novel NADPH-Dependent Primary-Secondary Alcohol Dehydrogenase

Abstract

ABSTRACTAcetogenic bacteria use CO and/or CO2plus H2as their sole carbon and energy sources. Fermentation processes with these organisms hold promise for producing chemicals and biofuels from abundant waste gas feedstocks while simultaneously reducing industrial greenhouse gas emissions. The acetogenClostridium autoethanogenumis known to synthesize the pyruvate-derived metabolites lactate and 2,3-butanediol during gas fermentation. Industrially, 2,3-butanediol is valuable for chemical production. Here we identify and characterize theC. autoethanogenumenzymes for lactate and 2,3-butanediol biosynthesis. The putativeC. autoethanogenumlactate dehydrogenase was active when expressed inEscherichia coli. The 2,3-butanediol pathway was reconstituted inE. coliby cloning and expressing the candidate genes for acetolactate synthase, acetolactate decarboxylase, and 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase. Under anaerobic conditions, the resultingE. colistrain produced 1.1 ± 0.2 mM 2R,3R-butanediol (23 μM h−1optical density unit−1), which is comparable to the level produced byC. autoethanogenumduring growth on CO-containing waste gases. In addition to the 2,3-butanediol dehydrogenase, we identified a strictly NADPH-dependent primary-secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (CaADH) that could reduce acetoin to 2,3-butanediol. Detailed kinetic analysis revealed that CaADH accepts a range of 2-, 3-, and 4-carbon substrates, including the nonphysiological ketones acetone and butanone. The high activity of CaADH toward acetone led us to predict, and confirm experimentally, thatC. autoethanogenumcan act as a whole-cell biocatalyst for converting exogenous acetone to isopropanol. Together, our results functionally validate the 2,3-butanediol pathway fromC. autoethanogenum, identify CaADH as a target for further engineering, and demonstrate the potential ofC. autoethanogenumas a platform for sustainable chemical production.