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Efficient Malic Acid Production in Escherichia coli Using a Synthetic Scaffold Protein Complex

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Abstract

Recently, malic acid has gained attention due to its potential application in food, pharmaceutical, and medical industries. In this study, the synthetic scaffold complex strategy was employed between the two key enzymes pyruvate kinase (PykF) and malic enzyme (SfcA); SH3 ligand was attached to PykF, and the SH3 domain was attached to the C-terminus of ScfA. Synthetic scaffold systems can organize enzymes spatially and temporally to increase the local concentration of intermediates. In a flask culture, the recombinant strain harboring scaffold complex produced a maximum concentration of 5.72 g/L malic acid from 10 g/L glucose. The malic acid production was significantly increased 2.1-fold from the initial culture period. Finally, malic acid production was elevated to 30.2 g in a 5 L bioreactor from recombinant strain XL-1 blue.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by a grant from the Next-Generation BioGreen 21 Program (SSAC, grant number: PJ01111601), Rural Development Administration, Republic of Korea.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Ulsan, 93 Daehak-ro, Nam-gu, Ulsan, 44610, Republic of Korea

    Sivachandiran Somasundaram & Soon Ho Hong

  2. Research Center for Bio-based Chemistry, Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT), 45 Jongga-ro, Jung-gu, Ulsan, 44429, Republic of Korea

    Gyeong Tae Eom

  3. Department of Green Chemistry and Environmental Biotechnology, Korea University of Science and Technology (UST), 217 Gajeong-ro, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 34144, Republic of Korea

    Gyeong Tae Eom

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  1. Sivachandiran Somasundaram
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  2. Gyeong Tae Eom
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  3. Soon Ho Hong
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Correspondence to Soon Ho Hong.

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Somasundaram, S., Eom, G.T. & Hong, S.H. Efficient Malic Acid Production in Escherichia coli Using a Synthetic Scaffold Protein Complex. Appl Biochem Biotechnol 184, 1308–1318 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-017-2629-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12010-017-2629-7

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