Publications by authors named "Murray Moo Young"

Unlabelled: Strain engineering and bioprocessing strategies were applied for biobased production of porphobilinogen (PBG) using as the cell factory. The non-native Shemin/C4 pathway was first implemented by heterologous expression of from to supply carbon flux from the natural tricarboxylic acid (TCA) pathways for PBG biosynthesis via succinyl-CoA. Metabolic strategies were then applied for carbon flux direction from the TCA pathways to the C4 pathway.

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In this study, we applied metabolic engineering and bioprocessing strategies to enhance heterologous production of an important biodegradable copolymer, i.e., poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), with a modulated 3-hydroxyvalerate (3-HV) monomeric fraction from structurally unrelated carbon of glycerol in engineered Escherichia coli under different oxygenic conditions.

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Herein, we report the development of a microbial bioprocess for high-level production of 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA), a valuable non-proteinogenic amino acid with multiple applications in medical, agricultural, and food industries, using Escherichia coli as a cell factory. We first implemented the Shemin (i.e.

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As petro-based production generates numerous environmental impacts and their associated technological concerns, bio-based production has been well recognized these days as a modern alternative to manufacture chemical products in a more renewable, environmentally friendly, and sustainable manner. Herein, we report the development of a microbial bioprocess for high-level and potentially economical production of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3-HV), a valuable special chemical with multiple applications in chemical, biopolymer, and pharmaceutical industries, from glycerol, which can be cheaply and renewably refined as a byproduct from biodiesel production. We used our recently derived 3-HV-producing Escherichia coli strains for bioreactor characterization under various culture conditions.

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A propanologenic (i.e., 1-propanol-producing) bacterium Escherichia coli strain was previously derived by activating the genomic sleeping beauty mutase (Sbm) operon.

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3-Hydroxyacids are a group of valuable fine chemicals with numerous applications, and 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB) represents the most common species with acetyl-CoA as a precursor. Due to the lack of propionyl-CoA in most, if not all, microorganisms, bio-based production of 3-hydroxyvalerate (3-HV), a longer-chain 3-hydroxyacid member with both acetyl-CoA and propionyl-CoA as two precursors, is often hindered by high costs associated with the supplementation of related carbon sources, such as propionate or valerate. Here, we report the derivation of engineered Escherichia coli strains for the production of 3-HV from unrelated cheap carbon sources, in particular glucose and glycerol.

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Being the most abundant renewable organic substance on Earth, lignocellulosic biomass has acted as an attractive and cost-effective feedstock for biobased production of value-added products. However, lignocellulosic biomass should be properly treated for its effective utilization during biotransformation. The current work aimed to demonstrate biobased production of butyrate and 3-hydroxybutyrate (3-HB) in engineered Escherichia coli using pretreated and detoxified aspen tree (Populus tremuloides) wood chips as the feedstock.

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Rocking disposable bioreactors are a newer approach to smaller-scale cell growth that use a cyclic rocking motion to induce mixing and oxygen transfer from the headspace gas into the liquid. Compared with traditional stirred-tank and pneumatic bioreactors, rocking bioreactors operate in a very different physical mode and in this study the oxygen transfer pathways are reassessed to develop a fundamental mass transfer (k a) model that is compared with experimental data. The model combines two mechanisms, namely surface aeration and oxygenation via a breaking wave with air entrainment, borrowing concepts from ocean wave models.

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While the widespread reliance on fossil fuels is driven by their low cost and relative abundance, this fossil-based economy has been deemed unsustainable and, therefore, the adoption of sustainable and environmentally compatible energy sources is on the horizon. Biorefinery is an emerging approach that integrates metabolic engineering, synthetic biology, and systems biology principles for the development of whole-cell catalytic platforms for biomanufacturing. Due to the high degree of reduction and low cost, glycerol, either refined or crude, has been recognized as an ideal feedstock for the production of value-added biologicals, though microbial dissimilation of glycerol sometimes can be difficult particularly under anaerobic conditions.

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Bacillus subtilis has been commonly applied to industrial enzyme production due to its genetic tractability, "generally recognized as safe (GRAS)" status, and robust growth characteristics. In spite of its ideal attributes as a biomanufacturing platform, B. subtilis has seen limited use in the production of other value-added biochemicals.

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Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a high-value biopolymer that is produced in large scales using attenuated strains ofgroup C streptococci. However, due to the pathogenicity and fastidious nature of these bacteria, the development of bioprocesses for HA production centered on robust 'Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)' organisms, such as Bacillus subtilis, is of increased interest. Here, we report metabolic engineering of novel B.

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In microbial cultivations for hyaluronic acid (HA) production, oxygen can be a limiting substrate due to its poor solubility in aqueous medium and the substantial increase in culture viscosity at relatively low HA titers. Shear stress due to the high agitation and aeration rates required to overcome oxygen limitation may reduce the quality (i.e.

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Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a high-value biopolymer used in the biomedical, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, and food industries. Current methods of HA production, including extraction from animal sources and streptococcal cultivations, are associated with high costs and health risks. Accordingly, the development of bioprocesses for HA production centered on robust "Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS)" organisms such as Bacillus subtilis is highly attractive.

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The impact of cell culture environment on the glycan distribution of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) has been investigated through a combination of experiments and modeling. A newly developed CHO DUXB cell line was cultivated at two levels of initial Glutamine (Gln) concentrations (0, 4 mM) and incubation temperatures of (33 and 37 °C) in batch operation mode. Hypothermia was applied either through the entire culture duration or only during the post-exponential phase.

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While poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) [P(3HB-co-3HV)] is a biodegradable commodity plastic with broad applications, its microbial synthesis is hindered by high production costs primarily associated with the supplementation of related carbon substrates (e.g. propionate or valerate).

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Clostridium pasteurianum is emerging as a prospective host for the production of biofuels and chemicals, and has recently been shown to directly consume electric current. Despite this growing biotechnological appeal, the organism's genetics and central metabolism remain poorly understood. Here we present a concurrent genome sequence for the C.

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Diminishing fossil fuel reserves and mounting environmental concerns associated with petrochemical manufacturing practices have generated significant interests in developing whole-cell biocatalytic systems for the production of value-added chemicals and biofuels. Although acetyl-CoA is a common natural biogenic precursor for the biosynthesis of numerous metabolites, propionyl-CoA is unpopular and non-native to most organisms. Nevertheless, with its C3-acyl moiety as a discrete building block, propionyl-CoA can serve as another key biogenic precursor to several biological products of industrial importance.

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Unlabelled: The discovery and exploitation of the prokaryotic adaptive immunity system based on clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) and CRISPR-associated (Cas) proteins have revolutionized genetic engineering. CRISPR-Cas tools have enabled extensive genome editing as well as efficient modulation of the transcriptional program in a multitude of organisms. Progress in the development of genetic engineering tools for the genus Clostridium has lagged behind that of many other prokaryotes, presenting the CRISPR-Cas technology an opportunity to resolve a long-existing issue.

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Unlabelled: Crude glycerol, the major by-product of biodiesel production, is an attractive bioprocessing feedstock owing to its abundance, low cost, and high degree of reduction. In line with the advent of the biodiesel industry, Clostridium pasteurianum has gained prominence as a result of its unique capacity to convert waste glycerol into n-butanol, a high-energy biofuel. However, no efforts have been directed at abolishing the production of 1,3-propanediol (1,3-PDO), the chief competing product of C.

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Unlabelled: The establishment of a clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)-Cas9 system for strain construction in Bacillus subtilis is essential for its progression toward industrial utility. Here we outline the development of a CRISPR-Cas9 tool kit for comprehensive genetic engineering in B. subtilis In addition to site-specific mutation and gene insertion, our approach enables continuous genome editing and multiplexing and is extended to CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) for transcriptional modulation.

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Application of CRISPR-Cas9 systems has revolutionized genome editing across all domains of life. Here we report implementation of the heterologous Type II CRISPR-Cas9 system in Clostridium pasteurianum for markerless genome editing. Since 74% of species harbor CRISPR-Cas loci in Clostridium, we also explored the prospect of co-opting host-encoded CRISPR-Cas machinery for genome editing.

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To expand the chemical and molecular diversity of biotransformation using whole-cell biocatalysts, we genetically engineered a pathway in Escherichia coli for heterologous production of butanone, an important commodity ketone. First, a 1-propanol-producing E. coli host strain with its sleeping beauty mutase (Sbm) operon being activated was used to increase the pool of propionyl-coenzyme A (propionyl-CoA).

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To date, most genetic engineering approaches coupling the type II Streptococcus pyogenes clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR)/Cas9 system to lambda Red recombineering have involved minor single nucleotide mutations. Here we show that procedures for carrying out more complex chromosomal gene replacements in Escherichia coli can be substantially enhanced through implementation of CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing. We developed a three-plasmid approach that allows not only highly efficient recombination of short single-stranded oligonucleotides but also replacement of multigene chromosomal stretches of DNA with large PCR products.

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The industrial Gram-positive anaerobe Clostridium acetobutylicum is a valued acetone, butanol, and ethanol (ABE) solvent producer that is able to utilize a vast array of carbon sources in fermentation. When glucose is present in the growth medium, however, C. acetobutylicum, like many Gram-positive organisms, exhibits biphasic growth characteristics in which glucose is used preferentially over secondary carbon sources, a phenomenon known as carbon catabolite repression (CCR).

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Mounting environmental concerns associated with the use of petroleum-based chemical manufacturing practices has generated significant interest in the development of biological alternatives for the production of propionate. However, biological platforms for propionate production have been limited to strict anaerobes, such as Propionibacteria and select Clostridia. In this work, we demonstrated high-level heterologous production of propionate under microaerobic conditions in engineered Escherichia coli.

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