Metabolic engineering of Klebsiella pneumoniae for 1,3-propanediol production via crude glycerol tolerance enhancement and ATP regeneration

Abstract

1,3-Propanediol is a key monomer for producing polytrimethylene terephthalate. However, most reported microbial production systems rely on costly pure glycerol substrates or require expensive vitamin B12 supplementation, which considerably restricts their economic scalability. To overcome these constraints, a previously isolated Klebsiella pneumoniae strain was engineered to convert crude glycerol to 1,3-propanediol efficiently via adaptive laboratory evolution and rational metabolic engineering. In addition, an adenosine-driven ATP regeneration system was introduced; the engineered strain K. pneumoniae CG6.6 was capable of producing 110 g/L 1,3-propanediol in 48 h in a 5-L bioreactor, achieving a yield of 0.48 g/g without vitamin B12 supplementation. These findings highlight the potential of the engineered K. pneumoniae for sustainable and cost-effective 1,3-propanediol biosynthesis from crude glycerol.

Keywords

1,3-Propanediol / Klebsiella pneumoniae / Crude glycerol / Metabolic engineering

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Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China(22378164, 32470059)

Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province(BK20233003)

RIGHTS & PERMISSIONS

Jiangnan University