Biobutanol is gaining much attention as a potential biofuel due to its superior properties over ethanol. Butanol has been naturally produced via acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation by many Clostridium species, which are not very user-friendly bacteria. Therefore, to improve butanol titers and yield, various butanol synthesis pathways have been engineered in Escherichia coli, a much more robust and convenient host than Clostridium species. This review mainly focuses on the biosynthesis of n-butanol in engineered E. coli with an emphasis on efficient enzymes for butanol production in E. coli, butanol competing pathways, and genome engineering of E. coli for butanol production. In addition, the use of alternate strategies for butanol biosynthesis/enhancement, alternate substrates for the low cost of butanol production, and genetic improvement for butanol tolerance in E. coli have also been discussed.
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Cover Image
Cover Image
The flower represents the Drosophila testis niche with the hub cells at the center. Each petal of the flower represents Germline stem cells (GSCs) with a large and a smaller purple circle representing centromere; green rays representing stronger centromeres preferentially attach to the niche. Red and green caterpillars represent sister chromatids in prometaphase with separable old and new H3 in GSCs. Further, large butterflies closer to the flower represent prometaphase GSCs with a red wing vs a green wing representing non-overlapping old and new H3. Small orange butterflies away from the flower represent prophase gonialblast cells with overlapping old and new H3 signals. The background is from coiled sperm from the fly testis. Cover art generated by Professor Tim Phelps.
Engineering E. coli to synthesize butanol
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