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Supplementary Methods, Results, Tables and Figures Systems metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for Lthreonine production 5 Kwang Ho Lee1,3, Jin Hwan Park1, Tae Yong Kim1, Hyun Uk Kim1, Sang Yup Lee1,2,* 1 Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering (BK21 program), BioProcess Engineering Research Center, Center for Ultramicrochemical Process Systems, Center for Systems 10 and Synthetic Biotechnology, and Institute for the BioCentury, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea 2 Department of BioSystems and Bioinformatics Research Center, KAIST, Daejeon 305-701, Korea 3 15 R&D Center for Bioproducts, CJ Corp., Seoul 157-724, Korea * Correspondence author. Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), Daejeon 305-701, Korea. Tel.: +82 42 869 3930; Fax: +82 42 869 8800; E-mail: [email protected] 20 -1- Supplementary Methods Strains and plasmids For the construction of pKKThrABC plasmid, structural genes, including mutant thrA 5 (thrAC1034T), thrB, and thrC, were amplified by PCR with oligonucleotide primers Thr_Xma and Thr_Hin using the genomic DNA of E. coli TH01 (W3110 △lacI thrAC1034T) as a template. The PCR product was digested with XmaI and HindIII, and ligated with XmaI-HindIII-digested DNA fragment of pKK223-3 vector. The resulting plasmid, pKKThrABC, contains the thrAC1034T, thrB, and thrC genes under the control 10 of strong tac promoter. Then, the NdeI-SalI-digested 1.6-kb DNA fragment of pBR322 was ligated with the 7.8-kb NdeI-SalI-digested DNA fragment of the pKKThrABC to make a medium copy number plasmid pBRThrABC. To make pBRThrABCR, rhtC gene was amplified with primers FrhtCEcBa and RrhtCSpMl, digested with BamHI and SphI, and ligated with the BamHI-SphI-digested 9.2-kb fragment of pBRThrABC. To make 15 pBRThrABCR2, rhtA gene was amplified with primers FrhtAMlu and RrhtASalPst, digested with MluI and SalI, and ligated with the MluI-SalI-digested pBRThrABCR. Finally, for the amplification of the rhtB gene, PCR was performed with primers FrhtBPst and RrhtBEagAat, digested with PstI and EagI, and ligated with the PstIEagI-digested 10.8-kb fragment of the pBRThrABCR2 to make pBRThrABCR3 20 (Supplementary Figure 1G). To amplify aceBA genes, PCR was performed with primers EaceBA1 and EaceBA2 using the genomic DNA of E. coli W3110 as a template. The PCR product was digested with AatII and PstI, and was cloned into the same site of pACYC177, resulting in pACYCaceBA. The ppc gene was amplified with primers Eppc1 and Eppc2, digested 25 with EcoRI and PstI, and ligated with the EcoRI-PstI-digested pUC19 to generate pUCppc. For pACYCppc, the pACYC177 was digested with AatII, gap-filled with Klenow fragments, and digested again with PstI to liberate a 3.3-kb DNA fragment. This DNA fragment was ligated with FspI-PstI-digested 3.1-kb fragment of pUCppc. Plasmid pMloxC containing a selectable antibiotic marker flanked by mutant loxP sites 30 (Albert et al, 1995) was constructed. PCR was performed with pACYC184 as a template using primers ECmlox1 and ECmlox2 that contain lox66 sequence and lox71 sequence, respectively. The resulting PCR product was digested with HindIII and SmaI -2- sequentially, and was ligated with the HindIII-EcoRV-digested pUG6 (Guldener et al, 1996). Genome engineering: Promoter replacement and site-directed mutagenesis 5 The primers used for chromosomal manipulation are listed in Supplementary Table I. Replacement of native promoter in threonine operon with the strong tac promoter, removal of feedback inhibitions of aspartokinae I and III, and reduction of threonine dehydratase activity were performed using sacB homologous recombination system (Schweizer et al, 1992). The levansucrase, encoded by the Bacillus subtilis sacB gene, 10 which is inducible in the presence of sucrose, causes lethal cell lysis by an uncontrolled accumulation of levan in the periplasm of gram-negative bacteria. Hence, cells harboring the sacB gene by first homologous recombination have to release this gene by second homologous recombination to survive in the presence of sucrose. Substitution of native promoter in threonine operon with the strong tac promoter was 15 performed as follows (Supplementary Figure 1A and F). A 0.7-kb PCR product amplified with primers thrAT1 and thrAT2 was digested with PvuII and SphI, followed by cloning into the same sites of pKK223-3 to make pKKthrL. Another 0.7-kb PCR product amplified with primers thrAT3 and thrAT4 was digested with EcoRI and PstI, and then it was cloned into the EcoRI-PstI-digested pKK223-3 to make pKKthrLR. The 20 PvuII-PstI digested 1.8-kb DNA fragment containing the tac promoter flanked by 0.7kb homologous DNA fragments was cloned into pSacHR06 (Park et al, 2007) to make pSacAT01. This construct was digested with NheI and a 5.2-kb DNA fragment was selfligated to remove the 0.9-kb fragment containing the pMB1 origin of replication. The final construct was electroporated into E. coli, and the clones having the native 25 promoter changed with the tac promoter by double homologous recombination were identified by positive selection based on the conditional lethal effect of the sacB gene in E. coli. Replacement of endogenous promoter of L-threonine operon by the tac promoter in the chromosomal DNA was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Substitution of the endogenous promoter of the ppc gene by the trc promoter was 30 performed by PCR-mediated -Red recombination (Yuan et al, 2006) (Supplementary Figure 1B). The PCR fragment required for the promoter replacement was amplified in three steps. A 1047-bp DNA fragment of fused lox71-chloramphenicol marker-lox66 -3- was generated by the first PCR reaction with primers FPppc1 and RPppc1 which contain lox71 and lox66, respectively, using pACYC184 as a template. To introduce the trc promoter, the second PCR reaction was performed with primers FPppc2 and RPppc2 using the 1047-bp DNA fragment as a template. The primer RPppc2 contains the trc 5 promoter sequence. To introduce homologous regions into the final PCR product, the third PCR reaction was carried out with primers FPppc3 and RPppc3 using the second PCR product as a template. The final PCR product was electroporated into E. coli cells carrying -Red recombinase expression plasmid pKD46, and cells in which double homologous recombination occurred were selected on the agar plate containing 10 chloramphenicol and screened by direct colony PCR. Replacement of the promoter of the ppc gene with the trc promoter was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Substitution of a native promoter of the acs gene by the trc promoter was performed in the same manner as described for the ppc gene. A 1195-bp fused lox71chloramphenicol marker-lox66 DNA fragment was obtained by the first PCR reaction 15 with primers FPacs1 and RPacs1 using pMloxC as a template. To introduce the trc promoter, the second PCR reaction was performed with primers FPacs2 and RPacs2 using the 1195-bp DNA fragment as a template. The primer RPacs2 contains the trc promoter sequence. To introduce homologous regions into the final PCR product, the third PCR reaction was carried out with primers FPacs3 and RPacs3 using the second 20 PCR product as a template. The final PCR product was electroporated into E. coli cells carrying -Red recombinase expression plasmid pKD46, and cells in which double homologous recombination occurred were selected on the agar plate containing chloramphenicol, and screened by direct colony PCR. Replacement of the promoter of the acs gene with the trc promoter was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. 25 The feedback-resistant aspartokinase I was constructed by replacing the 345th serine with phenylalanine (Supplementary Figure 1C). Oligonucleotide primers thrA1 and thrA2, containing a BamHI site and a mutated nucleotide (22nd GA), respectively, were used to amplify a 664-bp fragment. Another 657-bp fragment was amplified using primers thrA3 and thrA4, containing a mutated nucleotide (22nd CT) and a SalI site, 30 respectively. Two DNA fragments were purified and mixed, and the complete 1279-bp fragment was amplified by overlapping PCR using the primers thrA1 and thrA4. The BamHI-SalI-digested 1279-bp PCR fragment was ligated into the BamHI-SalI-digested -4- pSacHR06 to make pSacthrA. The resultant construct was digested with NheI, and selfligated to remove the pMB1 origin of replication. The final construct was then electroporated into E. coli cells harboring pKD46, and the target clone was subsequently identified by positive selection based on the conditional lethal effect of the sacB gene in 5 E. coli. Substitution of a single nucleotide was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. The feedback-resistant aspartokinase III was generated by replacing threonine at position 352 by isoleucine (Supplementary Figure 1D). Oligonucleotide primers lysC1 and lysC2, containing a BamHI site and a mutated nucleotide (23rd GA), respectively, were used to amplify a 719-bp fragment. Another 808-bp fragment was amplified using 10 primers lysC3 and lysC4, containing a mutated nucleotide (22nd CT) and a SalI site, respectively. Two DNA fragments were purified and mixed, and the complete 1404-bp fragment was amplified by overlapping PCR using the primers lysC1 and lysC4. The BamHI-SalI-digested 1404-bp PCR fragment was ligated into the BamHI-SalI-digested pSacHR06 to make pSaclysC. The resultant construct was digested with NheI, and self- 15 ligated to remove the pMB1 origin of replication. The final construct was then electroporated into E. coli cells carrying pKD46, and the target clone was subsequently identified by positive selection based on the conditional lethal effect of the sacB gene in E. coli. Substitution of a single nucleotide was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. Threonine dehydratase was mutated by replacing the 97th serine with phenylalanine 20 (Supplementary Figure 1E). Oligonucleotide primers ilvA1 and ilvA2, containing a BamHI site and a mutated nucleotide (20th GA), respectively, were used to amplify a 648-bp fragment. Another 676-bp fragment was amplified using primers ilvA3 and ilvA4, containing a mutated nucleotide (19th CT) and a PstI site, respectively. Two DNA fragments were purified and mixed, and the complete 1325-bp fragment was 25 amplified by overlapping PCR using primers ilvA1 and ilvA4. The BamHI-PstIdigested 1325-bp PCR fragment was ligated into the BamHI-PstI-digested pSacHR06 to make pSacilvA. The resultant construct was digested with NheI, and self-ligated to remove the pMB1 origin of replication. The final construct was then electroporated into E. coli cells carrying pKD46, and the target clone was subsequently identified by 30 positive selection based on the conditional lethal effect of the sacB gene in E. coli. Substitution of a single nucleotide was confirmed by DNA sequence analysis. -5- Knocking-out chromosomal genes Deletion of the lysA, metA, tdh, ppc, and iclR genes was performed using one-step inactivation method (Datsenko and Wanner, 2000). The schematic procedure of gene inactivation is shown in Supplementary Figure 1F. The -Red recombinase expression 5 plasmid pKD46 was used to disrupt the genes in the chromosome of E. coli W3110 with appropriate antibiotic markers. Recombinant E. coli W3110 harboring the pKD46 was cultivated at 30C, and the expression of λ recombinase was induced by adding Larabinose (10 mM). Then electrocompetent cells were prepared by standard protocol. PCR was performed using plasmid pKD3 or pKD4, which contains the antibiotic 10 resistance gene flanked by FRT sequence (FLP recognition target) as templates and primers listed in Supplementary Table I. The PCR products were transformed into the electrocompetent E. coli W3110 harboring the pKD46. Colonies were selected on LB agar plates containing kanamycin (40 μg/ml) or chloramphenicol (34 μg/ml). Successful gene replacement with the antibiotic marker was confirmed by direct colony PCR. The 15 antibiotic marker was eliminated by using a helper plasmid pCP20 encoding the FLP recombinase. Plasmid pCP20 contains ampicillin and chloramphenicol resistant markers, and shows temperature-sensitive replication6. The CmR or KmR knockout mutants were transformed with the pCP20, and ampicillin-resistant transformants were selected on LB agar plates at 30°C. Several colonies were cultivated without antibiotic 20 marker in LB liquid media at 43°C, and then examined for the loss of all antibiotic resistances. Elimination of the antibiotic markers was verified by PCR. The tdcC gene was deleted in essentially the same manner, except that pMloxC plasmid was used as a template DNA for PCR. For the elimination of antibiotic resistance gene, a helper plasmid pJW168 (Palmeros et al, 2000) encoding the cre 25 recombinase was used. Flask cultivation Flask cultures were carried out using 250-ml baffled Erlenmeyer flasks containing 30 ml of TPM1 medium at 31°C in a rotary shaker at 250 rpm for 48 hours. The TPM1 30 medium contains per liter: glucose, 50 g; yeast extract, 2 g; MgSO4.7H2O, 2 g; KH2PO4, 4 g; (NH4)2SO4, 14 g; betaine, 1 g; L-methionine, 0.149 g; L-lysine, 0.164 g; trace metal solution, 5 ml and CaCO3, 30 g. The trace metal solution contains per liter: FeSO4.7H2O, -6- 10 g; CaCl2, 1.35 g; ZnSO4.7H2O, 2.25 g; MnSO4.4H2O, 0.5 g; CuSO4.5H2O, 1 g; (NH4)6Mo7O24.4H2O, 0.106 g; Na2B4O7.10H2O, 0.23 g; 35% HCl, 10 ml. The final pH was adjusted to 7.2 by adding 4N KOH. Chloramphenicol (35 μg/ml), kanamycin (40 μg/ml) and ampicillin (50 μg/ml) were added to the medium when necessary. 5 -7- Supplementary Results Transcriptome analysis of Thr producing strain In order to identify notable changes in transcript level during Thr production, 5 transcriptome profiling was carried out. Transcriptome profiles of TH07 (pBRThrABC) were compared with those of control WL3110 (pBR322) strain. Samples for transcriptome profiling were taken at the OD600 of 5.13 (the former) and 5.21 (the latter) (Supplementary Figure 2). They were both at exponential growth phase and the specific growth rates were 0.328 /h for the former and 0.357 /h for the latter. At the time of 10 sampling, the TH07C (pBRThrABC) strain produced 0.71 g/l of Thr. Genes that were found to be significantly upregulated or downregulated are listed in Supplementary Table V and VI, respectively, and categorized in Supplementary Table VII. The expression levels of genes involved in glycolysis, TCA cycle and pentose phosphate pathway were not significantly changed (Supplementary Figure 3). Interestingly, the 15 expression levels of the genes involved in glyoxylate cycle were considerably upregulated, while those of hdeA, hdeB, gadA, and gadB, which are known to be induced by acetate (Arnold et al, 2001), were found to be downregulated in TH07C (pBRThrABC). This result can be explained because the acetic acid concentration in TH07C (pBRThrABC) is much lower than that in WL3110 (pBR322) at early stationary 20 phase (0.52 g/l vs. 1.61 g/l). The expression level of the rhtC gene, which encodes a Thr exporter, increased to 2.99-fold, while that of the ppc gene decreased to 0.43-fold. As expected, the thrABC genes, which were amplified both chromosomally (attenuation removal) and extrachromosomally (plasmid-based amplification), were significantly upregulated by 43.60 (thrA), 39.05 (thrB) and 23.55-folds (thrC), 25 respectively. The expression levels of the genes involved in L-isoleucine biosynthesis were significantly increased. This seems to be caused by the decreased activity of threonine dehydratase in TH07C (pBRThrABC). Effects of amplifying the aceBA genes 30 We examined by flux response analysis whether further amplification of the aceBA genes would increase Thr production. As shown in Figure 2B, the response of Thr production rate to increasing ICL flux showed similar profile with that observed earlier -8- for increasing the PPC flux. Thus, we concluded that knocking out the iclR gene was good enough for increasing the Thr production. To prove whether this is true, we constructed pACYCaceBA to further amplify the aceBA genes. The specific activity of ICL and the Thr concentration obtained with TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYCaceBA) 5 were 337.2% and 90.6%, respectively, of those obtained with TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) (Supplementary Table IV and Supplementary Figure 4A), suggesting that further amplification of the aceBA genes had a negative effect on Thr production as predicted by flux response analysis. 10 Reduction of acetic acid formation during the fed-batch culture As can be seen from Figure 2C, the acetic acid production can be reduced by (i) reducing glycolytic flux, (ii) increasing pentose phosphate pathway flux, (iii) increasing the anaplerotic flux (ppc or aceBAK), (iv) decreasing the flux through the acetate pathway (pta-ack, poxB), and (v) increasing the flux of acetate utilization by acetyl-CoA 15 synthetase (acs). The first option is not desirable as it will also decrease cell growth and Thr production. The second option involves amplification of multiple enzymes, which is not desirable either considering the metabolic burden of overexpression. The third option of increasing the anaplerotic fluxes was already implemented by altering both PPC expression level and the regulation of the glyoxylate bypass. The fourth option of 20 knocking out the genes in the acetate pathway (pta-ack or poxB) was not chosen because it can retard growth and/or increase pyruvate excretion. The last strategy of amplifying the acs gene was selected to reduce acetic acid production. Acetyl-CoA synthetase encoded by the acs gene catalyzes an irreversible reaction that converts acetate to acetyl-CoA. The native acs promoter in the chromosome was 25 replaced with the trc promoter to increase the expression of the acs gene. This method of promoter replacement was employed to avoid metabolic burden to be caused by additional plasmid-based overexpression and to allow constitutive expression of the acs gene in the lacI mutant host strain used in this study. The increased expression of the acs gene was validated by real time RT-PCR analysis (see below). 30 Additional fed-batch cultures of TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) strain During the fed-batch culture of TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) strain shown in Figure 3B in -9- the text, samples were taken 33 times to accurately analyze the fermentation performance. However, due to the frequent sampling, there was noticeable culture volume change which may affect the real fermentation time profile. Thus, fed-batch culture of TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) strain was repeated under the same condition, but 5 with minimal number of samplings. Samples were taken out only three times as shown in Supplementary Figure 6A online. The final Thr concentration reached in 52.4 h was 76.5 g/l Thr, with the volumetric Thr productivity of 1.46 g/l/h (Supplementary Figure 6A and Supplementary Table III). The concentration of acetic acid accumulated was 2.41 g/l. Furthermore, the pH-stat fed-batch culture of TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) strain 10 with automatic feeding also allowed production of Thr to 75.1 g/l with the productivity of 1.436 g/l/h. (Supplementary Figure 6B). These results suggest that the performance of rationally engineered TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) strain is comparable to the randomly mutagenized strain employed in industry. 15 - 10 - Supplementary Table I - Bacterial strains and plasmids used in this study Descriptiona Strain/plasmid Reference/Source Strains CGSCb E. coli W3110 Coli Genetic Stock Center strain (CGSC) No. 4474 E. coli TOP10 F_ mcrA _(mrr-hsdRMS-mcrBC) (_80lacZ_M15 _lacX74 deoR recA1 araD139 _(ara-leu)7697galU galK rpsL endA1 nupG WL3110 W3110 lacI TH01 W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T TH02 Invitrogenc Park et al, 2007 This study W3110 lacI, thrA C1034T C1055T TH03 W3110 lacI, thrA C1034T C1055T , Pthr::Ptac This study TH04 W3110 lacI, thrA C1034T C1055T , Pthr::Ptac, lysA This study TH05 W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, lysA, metA This study TH06 W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, lysA, metA, ilvAC290T This study TH07 TH09C TH11C TH19C TH20C TH27C TH28C This study , lysC , lysC , lysC W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, iclR::CmR W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, ppc::CmR W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, Pppc::Ptrc W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, iclR::CmR, Pppc::Ptrc W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, iclR, Pppc::Ptrc, tdcC::CmR W3110 lacI, thrAC1034T, lysCC1055T, Pthr::Ptac, tdh, iclR, Pppc::Ptrc, tdcC, Pacs::CmR-Ptrc lysA, metA, ilvAC290T, lysA, metA, ilvA C290T lysA, metA, ilvA C290T lysA, metA, ilvA C290T lysA, metA, ilvA C290T lysA, metA, ilvA C290T , , , , , lysA, metA, ilvAC290T, This study This study This study This study This study This study This study Plasmids pKD46 pKD3 pCP20 pJW168 pUG6 ApR, Red recombinase expression plasmid, expression, temperature sensitive replication, 6.3-kb R ara-inducible R Cm , Ap , oriR plasmid containing an FRT-aph-FRT cassette, 2.8-kb ApR, CmR, repA(Ts), pSC101 based vector expressing the yeast Flp recombinase ApR, repA(Ts), pSC101 based vector expressing cre-recombinase, 5.5kb ApR, loxP-kanMX-loxP, 4.0-kb Datsenko et al, 2000 Datsenko et al, 2000 Datsenko et al, 2000 Palmero et al, 2000 Guldener et al, 1996 R R pMloxC Ap , HindIII-SmaI-digested 1.1-kb PCR product of lox66-Cm -lox71 ligated with HindIII-EcoRV-digested 2.4-kb fragment of the pUG6, 3.5kb pACYC177 KmR, ApR; p15A ori, 3.9-kb New England Biolabsd pACYC184 TcR, CmR, p15A ori, 4.2-kb New England Biolabs pUC19 This study R New England Biolabs R Ap , pMB1 ori, 2.7-kb pKK223-3 Ap , tac promoter, pMB1 ori, 4.6-kb Pharmacia Bioteche pBR322 ApR, TcR, rop, pMB1 ori, 4.4-kb Pharmacia Biotech pSacHR06 KmR, homologous recombination vector, 4.3-kb pUCppc R Ap , ppc cloned in EcoRI and PstI site of pUC19, 5.7-kb R Park et al, 2007 This study pACYCppc Km , ppc cloned in AatII and PstI site of pACYC177, 6.3-kb This study pACYCaceBA KmR, aceBA cloned in AatII and PstI site of pACYC177, 6.7-kb This study - 11 - Supplementary Table I - continued Descriptiona Strain or plasmid pKKthrL ApR, thrL fragment cloned in SphI and PvuII site of pKK223-3, 3.8-kb R This study pKKthrLR Ap , thrR fragment cloned in EcoRI and PstI site of pKKthrL, 4.5-kb This study pSacAT01 KmR, thrL-Ptac-thrR fragment cloned in EcoRV and PstI site of pSacHR06, 6.1-kb This study pSacthrA KmR, mutant thrA cloned in BamHI and SalI site of pSacHR06, 5.6-kb This study pSaclysC pSacilvA pKKthrABC pBRThrABC pBRThrABCR pBRThrABCR2 pBRThrABCR3 R This study R This study Km , mutant lysC cloned in BamHI and SalI site of pSacHR06, 5.8-kb Km , mutant ilvA cloned in BamHI and PstI site of pSacHR06, 5.6-kb R Ap , mutant threonine operon cloned in XmaI and HindIII site, 9.4-kb ApR, NdeI-SalI-digested 7.8-kb fragment of pKKThrABC ligated with NdeI-SalI -digested 1.6-kb fragment of the pBR322, 9.4-kb ApR, BamHI-SphI-digested 1.5-kb PCR product of rhtC ligated with BamHI-SphI-digested 9.2-kb fragment of the pBRThrABC, 10.7-kb ApR, MluI-SalI-digested 1.1-kb PCR product of rhtA ligated with MluISalI- digested 10.0-kb fragment of the pBRThrABCR, 11.1-kb ApR, PstI-EagI-digested 0.9-kb PCR product of rhtB ligated with PstIEagI-digested 10.8-kb fragment of the pBRThrABCR2, 11.7-kb a Abbreviations: Ap, ampicillin; Cm, chloramphenicol; Km, kanamycin; Tc, tetracycline; R, resistance. 5 Source b Coli Genetic Stock Center. c Invitrogen, Corp., Carlsbad, CA. d New England Biolabs, Inc., Beverly, Mass. e Pharmacia Biotech, Uppsala, Sweden. - 12 - This study This study This study This study This study Supplementary Table II - Oligonucleotides used in this study Sequence (5’3’)a Name thrA1 ACGCGGATCCATCGCCATTATGGCCGGCGTATTAGAAGC thrA2 GATTGCGTAATCAGCACCACGAAAATACGGGCGCGTGACATCG thrA3 CGATGTCACGCGCCCGTATTTTCGTGGTGCTGATTACGCAATC thrA4 CACGCGTCGACCTGGAAGTGCAGTTAACAATGACCGGG lysC1 CTGATGTCGACCCTGCTGTTTGTTGAGATCCTGCGC lysC2 GGTTGAACCGGTGGTATCAAGGATAATGCCACGCTCACTTCTG lysC3 CAGAAGTGAGCGTGGCATTAATCCTTGATACCACCGGTTCAACC lysC4 CCAGCTAAATGACGCTTCAGGATCCGGTTTATAAG ilvA1 GACGGGATCCGCAAAGCCTGTGCGCTGATCACCGACGG ilvA2 CACGCCTAACCGCGCAGAAAAAAACGCGACGCCCTGCG ilvA3 CGCAGGGCGTCGCGTTTTTTTCTGCGCGGTTAGGCGTG ilvA4 CAGGTACTGCAGACCGGAAAGAATATGCGCCAGCCGTTCG KOmetA1 GTGTGCCGGACGAGCTACCCGCCGTCAATTTCTTGCGTGAAGAAAACGTCTTTGTGATTGCAGCATTACACGTCTTG KOmetA2 CGGGATGGCCCGTCACAAAGGCAATGCGCTTATCTTTACTGGCAAACAGACACTTAACGGCTGACATGGGA KOlysA1 ATGCCACATTCACTGTTCAGCACCGATACCGATCTCACCGCCGAAAATCTGATTGCAGCATTACACGTCTTG KOlysA2 GTTGATAAGGAACAGAAAGCCCACCGCCCGCAGAAATAGCCTGTAAATCCCACTTAACGGCTGACATGGGA thrAT1 GCAGCCAGCTGTAGCGATCTGCGGATTGTCGATAGT thrAT2 CAGGAGCATGCCAGAAGCTGCTATCAGACACTCTTT thrAT3 CAGCAGAATTCATGCGAGTGTTGAAGTTCGGCGGTA thrAT4 CAGAGCTGCAGTCCGTCCAAATCTCGCAACAATCGG Thr_Xma GTTGCCCGGGATGCGAGTGTTGAAGTTCGG Thr_Hin GCGTCAAGCTTCGGCGGTTGTTATTCTCCGC KOtdh1 ATGAAAGCGTTATCCAAACTGAAAGCGGAAGAGGGCATCTGGATGACCGAGATTGCAGCATTACACGTCTTG KOtdh2 ATCACTTTGGTCCAGTCGATAGACATATCAGACGGCGGAATACCCAGCATCACTTAACGGCTGACATGGGA KOiclR1 TGAAAATGATTTCCACGATACAGAAAAAAGAGACTGTCATGGTCGCACCCGATTGCAGCATTACACGTCTTG KOiclR2 ATAGAAATTGCGGCAAACGGTTCACGGTGCTCATCGAAAATACACGCTGCCACTTAACGGCTGACATGGGA KOppc1 ATGAACGAACAATATTCCGCATTGCGTAGTAATGTCAGTATGCTCGGCAAGATTGCAGCATTACACGTCTTG KOppc2 TTACCTAACGGCCACAGTGCTTTGTCTACCAGGCGTTGGTCATAGTATTCCACTTAACGGCTGACATGGGA KOF1tdcC GCGTAAATCAGATACCACATGGACGTTAGGCTTGTTTGGTACGGCAATCG TAGGTGACACTATAGAACGCG KOF2tdcC ATGAGTACTTCAGATAGCATTGTATCCAGCCAGACAAAACAATCGTCCTGGCGTAAATCAGATACCACAT KOR1tdcC CCAGTGTAATCGCGAACGTTGTTTTGGTACCGGTCATGGACGCAAAGTGGTAGTGGATCTGATGGGTACC KOR2tdcC GAAGAAAGATTTGAAGATAGCCACGAGTGCGATGATGGAAGCCGCATATTCCAGTGTAATCGCGAACGT FPppc1 GTTTGCTGAAGCGATTTCGCTACCGTTCGTATAGCATACATTATACGAAGTTATTAACGACCCTGCCCTGAACC FPppc2 CTTATTTAAAGCGTCGTGAATTTAATGACGTAAATTCCTGCTATTTATTCGTTTGCTGAAGCGATTTCGC FPppc3 ACACCTTTGGTGTTACTTGGGGCGATTTTTTAACATTTCCATAAGTTACGCTTATTTAAAGCGTCGTGAA RPppc1 GAGCCGGATGATTAATTGTCAACAGCTACCGTTCGTATAATGTATGCTATACGAAGTTATATGAGACGTTGATCGGCACG RPppc2 ATTGTTCGTTCATGGTCTGTTTCCTGTGTGAAATTGTTATCCGCTCACAATTCCACACATTATACGAGCCGGATGATTAATTGTC RPppc3 CGCATCCTTGATGGTTTCTCCCAGCACTTTGCCGAGCATACTGACATTACTACGCAATGCGGAATATTGTTCGTTCATGGTCTGT FPacs1 GCCCCTATGTGTAACAAATAACCACACTGTGAATGTTGTCTAGGTGACACTATAGAACGCG FPacs2 TCACGACAGTAACCGCACCTACACTGTCATGACATTGCTCGCCCCTATGTGTAACAAATA FPacs3 CGAATTGCGCCATTGTTGCAATGGCGGTTTTTATTGTTTTTCACGACAGTAACCGCACCT RPacs1 TGTTATCCGCTCACAATTCCACACATTATACGAGCCGGATGATTAATTGTCAACAGCTAGTGGATCTGATGGGTACC RPacs2 CGATGTTGGCAGGAATGGTGTGTTTGTGAATTTGGCTCATGGTCTGTTTCCTGTGTGAAATTGTTATCCGCTCACAATTCC RPacs3 TTGTTGATACATCGCCTCGTACTGCTGAGGGTTTATCAGGCAACGGTCTGCGATGTTGGCAGGAATGGTG Eppc1 CAGCGAATTCTCGGATGCGATACTTGCG Eppc2 CGATCCTGCAGCGAATGTAACGACAATTCC EaceBA1 CGACTGACGTCTGATAGTCGATCGTTAAGC EaceBA2 CGATCCTGCAGAATCAATAATTCCAGGCC ECmlox1 ATATAAGCTTTACCGTTCGTATAGCATACATTATACGAAGTTATCTGCCCTGAACCGACGACCG ECmolx2 AATTCCCGGGTACCGTTCGTATAATGTATGCTATACGAAGTTATGCATCACCCGACGCACTTTGC FrhtCEcBa CTGAGAATTC GGATCCAGATGGCTGAACAGATGC RrhtCSpMl CCTACGCATGC ACGCGTCAAAGCAGATGAAGGCGC FrhtAMlu CTGAACGCGTGAACTGCGTAAGTATTACG RrhtASalPst CTGACGTCGAC CTGCAGACCATGCAGAAATGTAAAT FrhtBPst CGTAGCTGCAG TCCACACCAGTAAACTCTG RrhtBEagAat CATTTCGGCCG GACGTCAGTCGGATAAGGCGTTTAC a Restriction sites are underlined and sequences altered with respect to the template for site directed mutagenesis are in boldface. 5 - 13 - Supplementary Table III - Comparison of fermentation results obtained with metabolically engineered E. coli strains Conc. of fermentation products (g/l) L-threonine acetic acid succinic acid pyruvic acid Biomass yield (g DCW/g of glucose) 5.83 1.48 0.01 0.70 0.02 0.02 0.01 0.13 0.01 0.563 0.143 0.137 5.88 1.46 0.02 0.64 0.04 0.01 0.01 0.12 0.01 0.565 0.140 0.124 6.04 1.21 0.01 0.34 0.04 0.10 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.586 0.118 0.113 5.82 1.93 0.02 0.36 0.03 0.04 0.00 0.02 0.01 0.560 0.186 0.149 5.77 1.92 0.01 0.36 0.02 0.04 0.01 0.04 0.01 0.560 0.186 0.140 5.80 1.74 0.03 0.05 0.01 0.15 0.02 0.02 0.00 0.558 0.169 0.095 1.79 0.19 0.01 1.91 0.06 n.d. 2.21 0.12 0.263 0.028 0.010 TH19C (pBRThrABC) 5.88 1.89 0.01 0.51 0.04 0.02 0.01 0.05 0.01 0.571 0.183 0.194 TH20C (pBRThrABC) 5.78 2.24 0.01 0.24 0.01 0.03 0.00 0.03 0.00 0.556 0.213 0.220 TH20C (pBRThrABC)b 14.20 6.39 0.07 0.62 0.05 0.473 0.213 0.335 TH27C (pBRThrABC) 14.03 7.39 0.07 0.77 0.10 0.468 0.246 0.456 TH27C (pBRThrABCR) 11.32 11.10 0.22 0.80 0.08 0.377 0.370 0.766 TH27C (pBRThrABCR2) 11.20 11.59 0.28 0.59 0.02 0.373 0.386 0.768 TH27C (pBRThrABCR3) 10.99 11.81 0.16 0.45 0.05 0.366 0.393 0.777 31.93 77.1 1.5 7.85 0.25 0.114 0.275 1.374 35.60 82.4 1.1 2.35 0.13 0.127 0.294 1.648 33.35 76.5 1.0 2.41 0.17 0.119 0.273 1.460 32.97 75.1 1.5 2.16 0.10 0.118 0.268 1.436 Strain TH07 (pBRThrABC)a TH07 (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) TH07 (pBRThrABC, pACYCppc) TH09C (pBRThrABC) TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYCaceBA) TH11C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) TH27C (pBRThrABCR3)c fed-batch TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) fed-batch TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) fed-batch (minimum sampling) TH28C (pBRThrABCR3) fed-batch (pH-stat) Biomass (g DCW/l) d L-threonine yield (g/g of glucose) Volumetric L-threonine productivity (g/l/h) Batch cultures of recombinant strains were carried out in TPM2 medium containing 10 g/l glucosea or 30 g/l glucoseb as described in materials and methods. Standard deviations were calculated from the results of three independent experiments. - 14 - c Fed-batch cultures were carried out in TPM2 medium containing 20 g/l glucose at 31°C. The pH was controlled at 6.5 by automatic feeding of 25% (v/v) NH4OH. The feeding solutions were introduced into the fermentor as described in Materials and methods. d Not detected. - 15 - Supplementary Table IV - The specific activities of phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase and isocitrate lyasea Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PPC) Isocitrate lyase (ICL) TH07 (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) 32.0 1.8 2.2 0.1 TH07 (pBRThrABC, pACYCppc) 298.4 14.9 1.8 0.2 TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) 23.1 1.1 16.4 0.7 TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYCaceBA) 17.4 1.1 55.3 3.8 n.d.b 5.3 0.2 TH19C (pBRThrABC) 119.1 5.1 2.3 0.2 TH20C (pBRThrABC) 82.5 3.2 14.1 0.4 Strain TH11C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177) a All enzyme assays were performed as described in the materials and method. The unit of the enzyme activity is nmol/min/ mg (protein). b Not detected. 16 Table V - Genes that are significantly upregulated in L-threonine producing straina Gene name thrA thrB thrC ycbR b0005 ilvB hisG srlE fecI ilvN narG ilvC deoR yfiA ybjZ rep hisD b1983 ilvG_1 b1758 yagU ycjS ptsA ftn ytfM b1200 ytfH ytfE ilvD nirB b2433 b0298 nikD yggU narK prfH yajR tnaB yaaA yjgQ gatY ansP ynaF rhtC feoA lacZ iadA marA ompF yphC acrF hycD grxA yaaJ fliE yifM_2 fepD aer aceB aceA tdcC Functions Relative expression ratio aspartokinase I homoserine kinase threonine synthase putative chaperone hypothetical protein acetolactate synthase I ATP phosphoribosyltransferase PTS system probable RNA polymerase sigma factor acetolactate synthase I nitrate reductase 1 ketol-acid reductoisomerase transcriptional repressor for deo operon putative yhbH sigma 54 modulator putative ATP-binding component of a transport system rep helicase L-histidinal:NAD+ oxidoreductase; L-histidinol:NAD+ oxidoreductase hypothetical protein acetolactate synthase II putative cytochrome oxidase hypothetical protein putative dehydrogenase PEP-protein phosphotransferase system enzyme I cytoplasmic ferritin (an iron storage protein) hypothetical protein putative dihydroxyacetone kinase (EC 2.7.1.2) hypothetical protein hypothetical protein dihydroxyacid dehydratase nitrite reductase (NAD(P)H) subunit hypothetical protein putative factor ATP-binding protein of nickel transport system hypothetical protein nitrite extrusion protein probable peptide chain release factor putative transport protein low affinity tryptophan permease hypothetical protein hypothetical protein tagatose-bisphosphate aldolase 1 L-asparagine permease putative filament protein hypothetical protein ferrous iron transport protein A beta-D-galactosidase isoaspartyl dipeptidase multiple antibiotic resistance; transcriptional activator of defense systems outer membrane protein 1a (Ia;b;F) putative oxidoreductase integral transmembrane protein; acridine resistance membrane-spanning protein of hydrogenase 3 (part of FHL complex) glutaredoxin1 redox coenzyme for glutathione-dependent ribonucleotide reductase inner membrane transport protein flagellar biosynthesis; basal-body component hypothetical protein ferric enterobactin (enterochelin) transport aerotaxis sensor receptor malate synthase A isocitrate lyase anaerobically inducible L-threonine transporter 43.59 39.05 23.55 16.66 12.11 11.89 8.04 7.51 7.17 6.10 5.87 5.16 5.09 4.81 4.59 4.57 4.46 4.28 4.27 4.25 4.18 4.11 4.10 3.99 3.94 3.87 3.78 3.69 3.68 3.67 3.59 3.47 3.45 3.39 3.36 3.35 3.34 3.21 3.17 3.17 3.07 3.04 2.99 2.99 2.95 2.83 2.80 2.72 2.68 2.59 2.54 2.50 2.45 2.43 2.36 2.35 2.32 2.32 2.23 1.80 1.70 a Transcriptome profiles of TH07 (pBRThrABC) were compared with those of control WL3110 (pBR322) strain. 17 Table VI - Genes that are significantly downregulated in L-threonine producing straina Gene name gadA gadB hdeA hdeB betI evgA fhuF sseA lysA dnaK sodA metA xasA yojH metE ftsL dniR rpsU b1422 yadF b1836 purM hslV accB mopA mopB b2351 pyrB rplU crl yhiW cspA carA exbD adk tdh yhgI yrbA ydfK ytfK infA yigW_1 yciG avtA yajG yhiF htpG yadQ ygiB yegQ yadR rpsB ydcN fnr clpB rplY prfB ogt yejG pyrD miaA rplL yfhE ppc Functions Relative expression ratio glutamate decarboxylase isozyme glutamate decarboxylase isozyme hypothetical protein hypothetical protein probably transcriptional repressor of bet genes putative positive transcription regulator (sensor EvgS) hypothetical protein putative thiosulfate sulfurtransferase diaminopimelate decarboxylase chaperone Hsp70; DNA biosynthesis; autoregulated heat shock proteins superoxide dismutase homoserine transsuccinylase acid sensitivity protein hypothetical protein tetrahydropteroyltriglutamate methyltransferase cell division protein; ingrowth of wall at septum transcriptional regulator for nitrite reductase (cytochrome c552) 30S ribosomal subunit protein S21 putative transcriptional regulator LYSR-type putative carbonic anhdrase (EC 4.2.1.1) hypothetical protein phosphoribosylaminoimidazole synthetase = AIR synthetase heat shock protein hslVU acetylCoA carboxylase GroEL GroES putative glycan biosynthesis enzyme aspartate carbamoyltransferase 50S ribosomal subunit protein L21 transcriptional regulator of cryptic csgA gene for curli surface fibers putative ARAC-type regulatory protein cold shock protein 7.4 carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase uptake of enterochelin; tonB-dependent uptake of B colicins adenylate kinase activity; pleiotropic effects on glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase activity threonine dehydrogenase hypothetical protein hypothetical protein hypothetical protein hypothetical protein protein chain initiation factor IF-1 hypothetical protein hypothetical protein alanine-alpha-ketoisovalerate (or valine-pyruvate) transaminase putative polymerase/proteinase hypothetical protein chaperone Hsp90 putative channel transporter hypothetical protein hypothetical protein hypothetical protein 30S ribosomal subunit protein S2 hypothetical protein transcriptional regulation of aerobic heat shock protein 50S ribosomal subunit protein L25 peptide chain release factor RF-2 O-6-alkylguanine-DNA/cysteine-protein methyltransferase hypothetical protein dihydro-orotate dehydrogenase delta(2)-isopentenylpyrophosphate tRNA-adenosine transferase 50S ribosomal subunit protein L7/L12 hypothetical protein phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase 0.07 0.07 0.10 0.11 0.11 0.12 0.13 0.13 0.15 0.17 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.18 0.21 0.21 0.22 0.22 0.22 0.24 0.25 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.26 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.27 0.28 0.28 0.28 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.29 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.30 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.31 0.32 0.33 0.33 0.33 0.34 0.34 0.34 0.35 0.35 0.35 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.36 0.43 a Transcriptome profiles of TH07 (pBRThrABC) were compared with those of control WL3110 (pBR322) strain. 18 Table VII - Functional classification of differentially expressed genesa Differentially expressed gene(s) Functional group Upregulated Downregulated Amino acid biosynthesis and metabolism thrA, thrB, thrC, ilvB, ilvN, ilvC, hisG, hisD, ilvD, asnB, ilvM lysA, metA, metE, tdh, avtA, serA, serC Central intermediary metabolism aceB, aceA gadA, gadB, sseA Energy metabolism narG, nirB, nirD ppc, dniR Transport and binding proteins fecI, ptsA, ftn, hikD, narK, tnaB exbD Cell structure ompF, filE crl Nucleotide biosynthesis and metabolism deoR carA, pyrB, purM Translation, posttranslational modification prfH, iadA rplU, hslV, rpsU cell process marA, acrF htpG, cspA, mopB, sodA, betI a Transcriptome profiles of TH07 (pBRThrABC) were compared with those of control WL3110 (pBR322) strain. 19 Supplementary Figure 1 - Construction of plasmids (A) pSacAT01, (C) pSacthrA, (D) pSaclysC, and (E) pSacilvA used for site-directed mutagenesis. (B) The procedure for the replacement of the ppc gene promoter in the chromosome by PCR-based homologous recombination mediated by -Red recombinase. (F) Schematics of chromosomal substitution and gene inactivation. It should be noted that the genes are not shown in their actual location in the chromosome. (G) Construction of plasmid pBRThrABCR3 20 Supplementary Figure 2 - Time profiles of cell growth and Thr production during the batch cultures of Thr producing TH07C (pBRThrABC) strain 30 6 25 5 20 4 15 3 10 2 5 1 0 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 L-threonine (g/l) Biomass (OD600) and the control WL3110 (pBR322) strain 0 16 Time (h) Symbols are: solid circles, the growth of WL3110 (pBR322); solid triangles, the growth of TH27C (pBRThrABC); solid squares, L-threonine concentration during the culture of TH27C (pBRThrABC). Arrows indicate the sampling points for transcriptome profiling. 21 Supplementary Figure 3 - Results of comparative transcriptome profiling The numbers are the ratios of the expression levels in TH07C (pBRThrABC) versus WL3110 (pBR322). The shaded and boxed numbers indicate significantly up- and down-regulated genes, respectively, in Thr producing strain, TH07C (pBRThrABC). Abbreviations are: GLC, glucose; G6P, glucose-6-phosphate; 6PGL, gluconolactone-6-phosphate; 6PGC, 6-phosphogluconate; RL5P, ribulose-5-phosphate; X5P, xylulose-5-phosphate; R5P, ribose-5-phosphate; S7P, sedoheptulose-7-phosphate; E4P, erythrose-4-phosphate; F6P, fructose-6-phosphate; FBP, fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate; GAP, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate; DHAP, dihydroxyacetonephosphate; PEP, phosphoenolpyruvate; PYR, pyruvate; CIT, citrate; ICIT, isocitrate; AKG, α-ketoglutarate; SUCOA, succinyl-CoA; SUC, succinate; FUM, fumarate; MAL, 22 malate; OAA, oxaloacetate; GLY, L-glycine; ASP, L-aspartate; AS4P, L-aspartyl-4-phosphate; ASSA, aspartate semialdehyde; HS, homoserine; HSP, homoserine phosphate; THR, Lthreonine; LYS, L-lysine; MET, L-methionine; ILE, L-isoleucine; LEU, L-leucine. 23 Supplementary Figure 4 - Batch fermentation profiles of engineered E. coli strains. (A) TH07C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177), (B) TH07C (pBRThrABC, pACYCppc), (C) TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYC177), (D) TH09C (pBRThrABC, pACYCaceBA), (E) TH11C (pBRThrABC, (pBRThrABC), and (G) TH20C (pBRThrABC) 24 pACYC177), (F) TH19C Cells were grown in TPM2 medium containing 10 g/l glucose as described in Materials and methods. Symbols are: ○, cell growth (OD600); ■, L-threonine (g/l); ▲, glucose (g/l); □, acetic acid (g/l); ◇, pyruvic acid (g/l); △, succinic acid (g/l) 25 Supplementary Figure 5 - Batch fermentation profiles of engineered E. coli strains. (A) TH20C (pBRThrABC), (B) TH27C (pBRThrABC), (C) TH27C (pBRThrR), (D) TH27C (pBRThrABCR2), and (E) TH27C (pBRThrABCR3) Cells were grown in TPM2 medium containing 30 g/l glucose as described in Materials and methods. Symbols are: ○, cell growth (OD600); ■, L-threonine (g/l); ▲, glucose (g/l); □, acetic acid (g/l) 26 Supplementary Figure 6 - Fed-batch culture of E. coli TH28C (pBRThrABCR3). (A) time profiles of the fed-batch culture with minimum samplings (B) time profiles of the pH-stat fed-batch culture (A) Cells were cultured in TPM2 medium containing 20 g/l glucose at 31°C. The pH was controlled at 6.5 by automatic feeding of 25% (v/v) NH4OH. When the glucose concentration in the culture broth fell down to 1 g/l, 80 ml of feeding solution, which is equivalent to 40 g glucose, 1 g KH2PO4, 0.24 g L-methionine, and 0.35 g L-lysine, was added. Only three samplings were taken to simulate the industrial fermentation process. (B) When the pH becomes higher than 6.59, 6 ml of feeding solution composed of 565 g/l glucose, 12.9 g/l KH2PO4, 3.59 g/l Lmethionine, and 5.27 g/l L-lysine was automatically added. 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