Methyl Ketone Production by Pseudomonas putida Is Enhanced by Plant-Derived Amino Acids

The Science

Methyl ketones are a promising diesel blendstock and have been produced by multiple microbial platforms. Test use of plant-derived aromatics and amino acids to improve the efficiency of overall biomass conversion to methyl ketones.

The Impact

• Engineered P. putida produced methyl ketones from glucose and lignin-related aromatics.
• Methyl ketone production by P. putida increased with plant hydrolysates as substrates in comparison to sugar controls.
• Metabolomics and proteomics demonstrated that the increased production was due to plant-derived amino acids.
• Inclusion of a defined amino acid mixture increased methyl ketone production 9-fold relative to a sugar-only control.

Summary

• Engineered Pseudomonas putida to produce methyl ketones by introducing a truncated beta-oxidation pathway.
• Tested the strain on pure substrates and plant hydrolysates containing significant amounts of plant-derived aromatics.

References

Dong et al. “Methyl ketone production by Pseudomonas putida is enhanced by plant-derived amino acids,” Biotechnology and Bioengineering 116(8), 1909–1922 (2019). [DOI:10.1002/bit.26995]