Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity

Abstract Carboxydotrophic metabolism is gaining interest due to its applications in gas fermentation technology, enabling the conversion of carbon monoxide to fuels and commodities. Acetogenic carboxydotrophs play a central role in current gas fermentation processes. In contrast to other energy‐rich...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Maximilienne T. Allaart, Martijn Diender, Diana Z. Sousa, Robbert Kleerebezem
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2023-04-01
Series:Microbial Biotechnology
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14212
_version_ 1797861947447705600
author Maximilienne T. Allaart
Martijn Diender
Diana Z. Sousa
Robbert Kleerebezem
author_facet Maximilienne T. Allaart
Martijn Diender
Diana Z. Sousa
Robbert Kleerebezem
author_sort Maximilienne T. Allaart
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Carboxydotrophic metabolism is gaining interest due to its applications in gas fermentation technology, enabling the conversion of carbon monoxide to fuels and commodities. Acetogenic carboxydotrophs play a central role in current gas fermentation processes. In contrast to other energy‐rich microbial substrates, CO is highly toxic, which makes it a challenging substrate to utilize. Instantaneous scavenging of CO upon entering the cell is required to mitigate its toxicity. Experiments conducted with Clostridium autoethanogenum at different biomass‐specific growth rates show that elevated ethanol production occurs at increasing growth rates. The increased allocation of electrons towards ethanol at higher growth rates strongly suggests that C. autoethanogenum employs a form of overflow metabolism to cope with high dissolved CO concentrations. We argue that this overflow branch enables acetogens to efficiently use CO at highly variable substrate influxes by increasing the conversion rate almost instantaneously when required to remove toxic substrate and promote growth. In this perspective, we will address the case study of C. autoethanogenum grown solely on CO and syngas mixtures to assess how it employs acetate reduction to ethanol as a form of overflow metabolism.
first_indexed 2024-04-09T22:11:27Z
format Article
id doaj.art-2252e4d9a68e4ac2b0b76d567809ea8b
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1751-7915
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-09T22:11:27Z
publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Microbial Biotechnology
spelling doaj.art-2252e4d9a68e4ac2b0b76d567809ea8b2023-03-23T09:22:27ZengWileyMicrobial Biotechnology1751-79152023-04-0116469770510.1111/1751-7915.14212Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicityMaximilienne T. Allaart0Martijn Diender1Diana Z. Sousa2Robbert Kleerebezem3Department of Biotechnology Delft University of Technology Delft The NetherlandsLaboratory of Microbiology Wageningen University & Research Wageningen The NetherlandsLaboratory of Microbiology Wageningen University & Research Wageningen The NetherlandsDepartment of Biotechnology Delft University of Technology Delft The NetherlandsAbstract Carboxydotrophic metabolism is gaining interest due to its applications in gas fermentation technology, enabling the conversion of carbon monoxide to fuels and commodities. Acetogenic carboxydotrophs play a central role in current gas fermentation processes. In contrast to other energy‐rich microbial substrates, CO is highly toxic, which makes it a challenging substrate to utilize. Instantaneous scavenging of CO upon entering the cell is required to mitigate its toxicity. Experiments conducted with Clostridium autoethanogenum at different biomass‐specific growth rates show that elevated ethanol production occurs at increasing growth rates. The increased allocation of electrons towards ethanol at higher growth rates strongly suggests that C. autoethanogenum employs a form of overflow metabolism to cope with high dissolved CO concentrations. We argue that this overflow branch enables acetogens to efficiently use CO at highly variable substrate influxes by increasing the conversion rate almost instantaneously when required to remove toxic substrate and promote growth. In this perspective, we will address the case study of C. autoethanogenum grown solely on CO and syngas mixtures to assess how it employs acetate reduction to ethanol as a form of overflow metabolism.https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14212
spellingShingle Maximilienne T. Allaart
Martijn Diender
Diana Z. Sousa
Robbert Kleerebezem
Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
Microbial Biotechnology
title Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
title_full Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
title_fullStr Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
title_full_unstemmed Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
title_short Overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life: How carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
title_sort overflow metabolism at the thermodynamic limit of life how carboxydotrophic acetogens mitigate carbon monoxide toxicity
url https://doi.org/10.1111/1751-7915.14212
work_keys_str_mv AT maximiliennetallaart overflowmetabolismatthethermodynamiclimitoflifehowcarboxydotrophicacetogensmitigatecarbonmonoxidetoxicity
AT martijndiender overflowmetabolismatthethermodynamiclimitoflifehowcarboxydotrophicacetogensmitigatecarbonmonoxidetoxicity
AT dianazsousa overflowmetabolismatthethermodynamiclimitoflifehowcarboxydotrophicacetogensmitigatecarbonmonoxidetoxicity
AT robbertkleerebezem overflowmetabolismatthethermodynamiclimitoflifehowcarboxydotrophicacetogensmitigatecarbonmonoxidetoxicity