An Adaptive Laboratory Evolution Method to Accelerate Autotrophic Metabolism

Abstract

Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) is an approach enabling the development of novel characteristics in microbial strains via the application of a constant selection pressure. This method is also an efficient tool to acquire insights on molecular mechanisms responsible for specific phenotypes. ALE experiments have mainly been conducted with heterotrophic microbes to study, for instance, cell metabolism with different multicarbon substrates, tolerance to solvents, pH variation, and high temperature. Here, we describe employing an ALE method to generate Sporomusa ovata strains growing faster autotrophically and reducing CO into acetate more efficiently. Strains developed via this ALE method were also used to gain knowledge on the autotrophic metabolism of S. ovata as well as other acetogenic bacteria.

Adaptive laboratory evolution of cadmium tolerance in Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803

“…Adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE) is a strategy to improve strains via constant batch transfer under specific growth conditions [ 17 ], and has been considered as a powerful tool to generate robust strains with enhanced tolerance to multiple stresses [ 18 ]. Although it is time-consuming for strains to accommodate, systematic modifications on genome scale could be obtained through the ALE process [ 19 ].…”