A comprehensive metabolic map for the production of bio-based chemicals

A KAIST research team developed a comprehensive metabolic map which shows the current status of representative industrial chemicals that are produced through biological and/or chemical reactions. This map is expected to serve as a blueprint for visual and intuitive inspection of biological and/or chemical reactions for the production of chemicals of interest from renewable resources.

Article | Fall 2019

Petrochemical refinery processes using fossil oil or natural gas as a raw material have been used to make numerous chemicals and materials for everyday use. However, there has been much interest in producing chemicals and materials from renewable non-food biomass due to our increasing concerns on depletion of fossil resources, climate change, and other environmental problems. As an alternative, microorganisms have been explored as cell factories for sustainable production of industrial chemicals and materials. Engineering these microorganisms has increasingly become more efficient and effective with the help of metabolic engineering – a practice of engineering the metabolism of a living organism toward the production of a desired metabolite. With the establishment of systems metabolic engineering – the integration of metabolic engineering with tools and strategies of systems biology, synthetic biology and evolutionary engineering – the speed at which microorganisms are being engineered have reached an unparalleled pace. In this regard, the number of chemicals using biomass as carbon source has substantially increased.

In order to evaluate the current state of bio-based production of industrial chemicals, Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee and his research team conducted a detailed analysis of metabolic engineering research for the production of a wide range of industrial chemicals, fuels, and materials. Surveying the current trends in the bio-based production of chemicals in industrial biotechnology, the team thoroughly examined the current status of industrial chemicals produced using biological and/or chemical reactions. The team also compiled an accompanying poster to visually present synthetic pathways of chemicals in the context of the microbial metabolism. This resulting accompanying poster, termed the bio-based chemicals map, allows the detection and analysis of optimal synthetic pathways for a given industrial chemical.

In addition to the poster, the authors have compiled a list of chemicals that have successfully been produced in microorganisms and a list of chemicals and corresponding companies producing them commercially. This thorough review of literature and the analytical summary will be an important resource for researchers interested in the production of chemicals from renewable biomass sources.

“In our effort toward the sustainable production of chemicals using renewable resources, metabolically engineered microorganisms have made a huge contribution. We wanted to survey, in detail, the current state and capacity of bio-based chemicals production. In doing so, we are also excited to present our comprehensive metabolic map that might serve as a useful blueprint for the visual and intuitive inspection of biological and/or chemical reactions for the production of industrial chemicals of interest from renewable resources. We anticipate that this review with accompanying poster will help expand further discussions toward the production of important chemicals through engineered microorganisms in a more sustainable manner.” said Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, who led the research.

 

This research was published in Nature Catalysis (2(1):18, 2019), and was also highlighted by a number of press media.