Systems metabolic engineering of E. coli

Abstract

Metabolic engineering can be defined as purposeful modification of metabolic pathways and other cellular network to achieve desired cellular phenotype and performance. Rational metabolic engineering developed a couple of decades ago changed the way strains have been developed, which had traditionally been performed by random mutagenesis and selection. Now, we are observing another paradigm shift towards systems-level metabolic engineering, powered by the methods and tools developed in the discipline of systems biology. Systems metabolic engineering allows whole-cell-wide metabolic engineering based on the findings of systems biological studies including omics and computational analyses. Not only the metabolic network, but also gene regulatory and signaling networks can be engineered to develop an optimal strain. Also, it is important to consider fermentation and downstream processes during the upstream strain development. In this chapter, the general strategies of systems metabolic engineering are reviewed with relevant examples recently reported. © 2009 Springer Netherlands.