Metabolic engineering of cellular transport for overproduction of the platform chemical 1,5-diaminopentane in Corynebacterium glutamicum

The present work describes the development of a superior strain of Corynebacterium glutamicum for diaminopentane (cadaverine) production via metabolic engineering of cellular transport processes. In C. glutamicum DAP-3c, a tailor-made producer, the diaminopentane forming enzyme, lysine decarboxylase, was inhibited in vivo by its end-product, suggesting a potential bottleneck at the level of the export. The previously proposed lysine exporter lysE was shown not to be involved in diaminopentane export. Its deletion did not reduce diaminopentane secretion and could therefore be exploited to completely eliminate the export of lysine, an undesired by-product. Genome-wide transcription profiling revealed the up-regulation of 35 candidate genes as response to diaminopentane overproduction, including several transporters. The highest expression increase (2.6-fold) was observed for a permease, encoded by cg2893. Targeted gene deletion in the producer resulted in a 90% reduced diaminopentane secretion. Genome-based overexpression of the exporter, however, revealed a 20% increased yield, a 75% reduced formation of the undesired by-product N-acetyl-diaminopentane and a substantially higher viability, reflected by increased specific rates for growth, glucose uptake and product formation. Similarly, deletion of cg2894, TetR type repressor neighboring the permease gene, resulted in improved production properties. The discovery and amplification of the permease, as presented here, displays a key contribution towards superior C. glutamicum strains for production of the platform chemical diaminopentane. The exact function of the permease remained unclear. Its genetic modification had pronounced effects on various intracellular pools of the biosynthetic pathway, which did not allow a final conclusion on its physiological role, although a direct contribution to diaminopentane export appears possible.

► Superior C. glutamicum strain for bio-based production of diaminopentane.
► Elimination of by-product secretion by deletion of the lysine exporter LysE.
► Discovery of the permease Cg2893 as truly novel target by transcriptomics.
► Amplification of Cg2893 increases diaminopentane yield by 20%.