Biological production of monoethanolamine by engineered Pseudomonas putida S12

• A new engineered strain of P. putida S12 was constructed for the production of monoethanolamine.
• Growth inhibition was observed above 100 mM of MEA.
• P. putida S12ΔeutBC expressing A. thaliana SDC truncated produced 1.25 mmol MEA g−1 CDW.

Pseudomonas putida S12 was engineered for the production of monoethanolamine (MEA) from glucose via the decarboxylation of the central metabolite l-serine, which is catalyzed by the enzyme l-serine decarboxylase (SDC).The host was first evaluated for its tolerance towards MEA as well as its endogenous ability to degrade this alkanolamine. Growth inhibition was observed at MEA concentrations above 100 mM, but growth was never completely arrested even at 750 mM of MEA. P. putida S12 was able to catabolize MEA in the absence of ammonia, but deletion of the eutBC genes that encode ethanolamine ammonia-lyase (EAL) enzyme sufficed to eliminate this capacity.For the biological production of MEA, the sdc genes from Arabidopsis thaliana (full-length and a truncated version) and Volvox carteri were expressed in P. putida S12. From 20 mM of glucose, negligible amounts of MEA were produced by P. putida S12 ΔeutBC expressing the sdc genes from A. thaliana and V. carteri. However, 0.07 mmol of MEA was obtained per g of cell dry weight of P. putida S12 ΔeutBC expressing the truncated variant of the A. thaliana SDC. When the medium was supplemented with l-serine (30 mM), MEA production increased to 1.25 mmol MEA g−1 CDW, demonstrating that l-serine availability was limiting MEA production.