Engineered Accumulation of Protocatechuate in Corn Biomass to Enhance Biomanufacturing

The in-planta accumulation of coproducts in crops can enhance the value of lignocellulosic biomass and facilitate a sustainable bioeconomy. Corn stover represents a major renewable source of lignocellulose for the production of advanced biofuels and bioproducts. In this study, we engineered corn with a bacterial gene encoding a dehydroshikimate dehydratase (QsuB) to overproduce protocatechuate (DHBA). Transgenic corn lines accumulate up to 2.9% DHBA on a dry weight basis in leaf and stem biomass. DHBA occurs in the form of glucosides that are extractable from biomass using aqueous methanol as the solvent. The analysis of lignin did not show any evidence for the incorporation of DHBA; however, an increase in the lignin syringyl to guaiacyl ratio and a higher relative abundance of <i>p</i>-coumarate groups compared with total lignin units were observed in QsuB-modified corn. Alkaline hydrolysates prepared from QsuB corn were enriched in DHBA compared to the hydrolysates obtained from wild-type biomass, which contained mostly <i>p</i>-coumarate and ferulate. Using engineered <i>Novosphingobium aromaticivorans</i> as a production host, a 375% improvement in 2-pyrone-4,6-dicarboxylate titers was achieved through biological upgrading of alkaline hydrolysates derived from QsuB corn compared to unmodified biomass. Our data demonstrate an engineering strategy to overproduce DHBA in corn that can facilitate sustainable manufacturing of other valuable bioproducts using stover as a feedstock.