Quantification of metabolic pathways and fluxes for metabolic engineering of glycerol conversion to 1,3-propanediol

摘要

Quantification of metabolic pathways and fluxes is an important step toward a rational metabolic engineering of microorganisms. It also serves as a link between metabolic engineering and process engineering for bioprocess control and optimization. In this work, we use the bioconversion of glycerol to an industrially promising product, 1,3-propanediol, by Klebsiella pneumoniae as an example to show how such a quantitative analysis can contribute to our understanding of the metabolic pathways and regulations which in turn helps in identifying the targets for genetic manipulation of the microorganism. Some of the major challenges are briefly outlined.