Optimization Strategies for Microbial Itaconic Acid Biosynthesis

Title:Optimization Strategies for Microbial Itaconic Acid Biosynthesis

Volume: 6 Issue: 3

Author(s): Laura van der Straat and Leo H. de Graaff*

Affiliation:

• Laboratory of Systems and Synthetic Biology, Wageningen University, Dreijenplein 10, 6703 HB Wageningen,Netherlands

Keywords: Itaconic acid, metabolic engineering, heterologous expression, transport, Aspergillus terreus, Aspergillus niger.

Abstract: Background: Itaconic acid is a C5 dicaboxylic acid that can serve as a building block to be used in industry to synthesize polymers that are currently based on petroleum-based components. Methods: An overview of the recent literature on microbial itaconic acid production is given in this minireview. The biosynthetic pathways as they are known in Aspergillus terreus and Ustilago maydis are described. Major advances have been made in the development of different microorganisms to serve as potential novel itaconic acid production hosts. Although fermentation strategies are discussed, our main focus is therefore on metabolic engineering strategies for optimal itaconic acid biosynthesis.

Results: Itaconic acid is naturally produced by Aspergillus terreus, certain Ustilago and Candida species and Pseudozyma antarctica. Also in mammalian cells itaconic acid is found during macrophage activation. The biosynthetic pathway in A. terreus was well studied and the crucial enzyme for itaconic acid synthesis was found to be cis-aconitate decarboxylase (CadA) that converts cis-aconitate into itaconate. On one hand, optimization of itaconic acid production was done by optimizing fermentation processes and by applying metabolic engineering strategies to the natural producers, most of this was done with A. terreus. On the other hand, the identification of CadA allowed the exploration of heterologous expression of the gene in different hosts. Since citric acid is the metabolic precursor for itaconic acid biosynthesis, many research efforts have focused on Aspergillus niger as a potential itaconic acid producer. The results of this research showed that besides the heterologous expression of cadA, transport between different compartments and re-routing of the central carbon metabolism are important factors for the efficient biosynthesis of itaconic acid.

Conclusion: Several microorganisms have been investigated in the past years as potential itaconic acid producing hosts. Titers obtained by metabolic engineering of non-producing hosts range between 14.5 mg/L and 7.8 g/L. Although substantial progress has been made, the titers are not yet competitive with the titers obtained with the natural producer A. terreus.

Cite this article as:

van der Straat Laura and H. de Graaff Leo*, Optimization Strategies for Microbial Itaconic Acid Biosynthesis, Current Biotechnology 2017; 6 (3) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2211550105666160330004548

DOI https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/2211550105666160330004548	Print ISSN 2211-5501
Publisher Name Bentham Science Publisher	Online ISSN 2211-551X