Exchange of the native Corynebacterium glutamicum promoter of the aceE gene, encoding the E1p subunit of the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex (PDHC), with mutated dapA promoter variants led to a series of C. glutamicum strains with gradually reduced growth rates and PDHC activities. Upon overexpression of the L-valine biosynthetic genes ilvBNCE, all strains produced L-valine. Among these strains, C. glutamicum aceE A16 (pJC4 ilvBNCE) showed the highest biomass and product yields, and thus it was further improved by additional deletion of the pqo and ppc genes, encoding pyruvate:quinone oxidoreductase and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase, respectively. In fed-batch fermentations at high cell densities, C. glutamicum aceE A16 ⌬pqo ⌬ppc (pJC4 ilvBNCE) produced up to 738 mM (i.e., 86.5 g/liter) L-valine with an overall yield (Y P/S ) of 0.36 mol per mol of glucose and a volumetric productivity (Q P ) of 13.6 mM per h [1.6 g/(liter ؋ h)]. Additional inactivation of the transaminase B gene (ilvE) and overexpression of ilvBNCD instead of ilvBNCE transformed the L-valine-producing strain into a 2-ketoisovalerate producer, excreting up to 303 mM (35 g/liter) 2-ketoisovalerate with a Y P/S of 0.24 mol per mol of glucose and a Q P of 6.9 mM per h [0.8 g/(liter ؋ h)]. The replacement of the aceE promoter by the dapA-A16 promoter in the two C. glutamicum L-lysine producers DM1800 and DM1933 improved the production by 100% and 44%, respectively. These results demonstrate that C. glutamicum strains with reduced PDHC activity are an excellent platform for the production of pyruvate-derived products.

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The exploration of scale-down models to imitate the influence of large scale bioreactor inhomogeneities on cellular metabolism is a topic with increasing relevance. While gradients of substrates, pH, or dissolved oxygen are often investigated, oscillating CO2/HCO3 (-) levels, a typical scenario in large industrial bioreactors, is rarely addressed. Hereby, we investigate the metabolic and transcriptional response in Corynebacterium glutamicum wild type as well as the impact on L-lysine production in a model strain exposed to pCO2 gradients of (75-315) mbar. A three-compartment cascade bioreactor system was developed and characterized that offers high flexibility for installing gradients and residence times to mimic industrial-relevant conditions and provides the potential of accurate carbon balancing. The phenomenological analysis of cascade fermentations imposed to the pCO2 gradients at industry-relevant residence times of about 3.6 min did not significantly impair the process performance, with growth and product formation being similar to control conditions. However, transcriptional analysis disclosed up to 66 differentially expressed genes already after 3.6 min under stimulus exposure, with the overall change in gene expression directly correlateable to the pCO2 gradient intensity and the residence time of the cells.

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SummaryThe alga Chlorella pyrenoidosa has been grown in mass quantities on 94 at. yo W02.Neither inhibition nor a requirement for adaptation was encountered; changes in morphology were not evident. A statistically significant increase in mass of cells produced in the presence of W O z was observed.The algal cells have been labeled to the 90 at. % I3C level.