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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, March 2000, p. 909-913, Vol. 66, No. 3
Institute of Biotechnology, Swiss Federal
Institute of Technology Zurich, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland
Received 30 August 1999/Accepted 8 December 1999
Medium-chain-length (mcl) poly(3-hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) are
storage polymers that are produced from various substrates and
accumulate in Pseudomonas strains belonging to rRNA
homology group I. In experiments aimed at increasing PHA production in Pseudomonas strains, we generated an mcl PHA-overproducing
mutant of Pseudomonas putida KT2442 by transposon
mutagenesis, in which the aceA gene was knocked out. This
mutation inactivated the glyoxylate shunt and reduced the in vitro
activity of isocitrate dehydrogenase, a rate-limiting enzyme of the
citric acid cycle. The genotype of the mutant was confirmed by DNA
sequencing, and the phenotype was confirmed by biochemical experiments.
The aceA mutant was not able to grow on acetate as a sole
carbon source due to disruption of the glyoxylate bypass and exhibited
two- to fivefold lower isocitrate dehydrogenase activity than the wild
type. During growth on gluconate, the difference between the mean PHA
accumulation in the mutant and the mean PHA accumulation in the
wild-type strain was 52%, which resulted in a significant increase in
the amount of mcl PHA at the end of the exponential phase in the mutant
P. putida KT217. On the basis of a stoichiometric flux
analysis we predicted that knockout of the glyoxylate pathway in
addition to reduced flux through isocitrate dehydrogenase should lead
to increased flux into the fatty acid synthesis pathway. Therefore, enhanced carbon flow towards the fatty acid synthesis pathway increased
the amount of mcl PHA that could be accumulated by the mutant.
0099-2240/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Inactivation of Isocitrate Lyase Leads to Increased Production of
Medium-Chain-Length Poly(3-Hydroxyalkanoates) in
Pseudomonas putida
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Institute of
Biotechnology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Zurich,
Hoenggerberg HPT, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland. Phone: 41-1-633 3286. Fax: 41-1-633 1051. E-mail: bw{at}biotech.biol.ethz.ch.
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