Building microbial factories for the production of aromatic amino acid pathway derivatives: From commodity chemicals to plant-sourced natural products

Abstract

The aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathway, together with its downstream branches, represents one of the most commercially valuable biosynthetic pathways, producing a diverse range of complex molecules with many useful bioactive properties. Aromatic compounds are crucial components for major commercial segments, from polymers to foods, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals, and the demand for such products has been projected to continue to increase at national and global levels. Compared to direct plant extraction and chemical synthesis, microbial production holds promise not only for much shorter cultivation periods and robustly higher yields, but also for enabling further derivatization to improve compound efficacy by tailoring new enzymatic steps. This review summarizes the biosynthetic pathways for a large repertoire of commercially valuable products that are derived from the aromatic amino acid biosynthesis pathway, and it highlights both generic strategies and specific solutions to overcome certain unique problems to enhance the productivities of microbial hosts.

Comparative Investigation of Amino Acids Content in the Dry Extracts of Juno bucharica, Gladiolus Hybrid Zefir, Iris Hungarica, Iris Variegata and Crocus Sativus Raw Materials of Ukrainian Flora

“…The high content of pyroglutamic and aspartic acids in samples can be explained by the relationship between the primary and secondary metabolism of amino acids in plants, since glutamic acid is a precursor in the biosynthesis of all amino acids in plant parts [56,57]. Aspartic acid is synthesized by direct amination, and alanine and glutamic acid are formed as a result of reductive amination.…”

Bioprocess Optimization for the Production of Aromatic Compounds With Metabolically Engineered Hosts: Recent Developments and Future Challenges

“…On the other hand, fine chemicals are produced in limited volumes (<1000 tons per year) but at relatively high prices (>$10kg −1 ) (Joshi and Ranade, 2016). Based on this, at least for now, the commercialization of fine aromatic compounds will emerge with more successes (Cao et al, 2019). The current challenges that still need to be addressed are the metabolic imbalances in the producer strain, the availability of the metabolites required for biomass formation and the product extraction and purification.…”

Recent Advances in Metabolically Engineered Microorganisms for the Production of Aromatic Chemicals Derived From Aromatic Amino Acids

“…The enzymes and regulations involved in the aromatic amino acid biosynthetic pathway have been well-studied and characterized. Cao et al (2020) well-summarized the transcriptional regulation mechanism. Herein, we only outline the feedback inhibition mechanism in Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Figure 1).…”