Efforts Toward Industrial Biosynthesis of Isoprene

Abstract

With wide applications, isoprene faces a growing global market. The increasing concerns about the environmental problems brought by petrochemical industry propel the research on bioproduction of isoprene. To date, numerous efforts have been made in the characterization and engineering of the isoprene biosynthesis pathway, leading to successful production of isoprene by bacteria and yeast. This chapter summarizes the research progresses in isoprene biosynthesis and introduces the isoprene biosynthesis in nature, the key enzyme isoprene synthase, and the development of isoprene-producing microorganisms. In particular, the efforts made toward industrial biosynthesis of isoprene using bacteria and yeast are discussed in detail, with special attention given to the metabolic engineering strategies adopted to achieve isoprene-producing strains with improved performance indices. The persisting issues and future research needs are presented as well.