Synergistic Use of Multiple Regulatory Strategies for Efficient N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Biosynthesis in <i>Escherichia coli</i>

N-Acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc), a sialic acid derivative with critical roles in antiviral drug synthesis and infant nutrition, faces biosynthesis bottlenecks due to insufficient phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) precursor flux and byproduct accumulation in the microbial chassis. Here, we present a multitiered engineering strategy to enhance the NeuAc production in <i>Escherichia coli</i>: dynamic control of PEP metabolism-related genes, global transcription machinery engineering, and biosensor-guided screening of the carbon starvation regulator CsiR mutant. The engineered strain DN20 achieved 28.17 g/L NeuAc in shake-flask fermentation using glucose─a 1.6-fold increase over the parent strain DN11 and the highest shake-flask titer for glucose-based <i>E. coli</i> systems. Transcriptomic analysis was performed to investigate the potential impact of CsiR overexpression on NeuAc biosynthesis. This work establishes a multisynthetic biology strategy fusion for metabolic reprogramming and provides a reference for optimizing high-value biochemical production.

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Publication Details

Journal
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Published
2026-02-23
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jafc.5c09049
Primary Topic
Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
Type
article
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article

Synergistic Use of Multiple Regulatory Strategies for Efficient N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Ya Xu, Q. A. Wang, Minjun Jia, Haoran Li et al.
Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry
Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
article

Synergistic Use of Multiple Regulatory Strategies for Efficient N-Acetylneuraminic Acid Biosynthesis in Escherichia coli

Ya Xu, Q. A. Wang, Minjun Jia, Haoran Li, Shuhong Yang
article en

Abstract

N-Acetylneuraminic acid (NeuAc), a sialic acid derivative with critical roles in antiviral drug synthesis and infant nutrition, faces biosynthesis bottlenecks due to insufficient phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) precursor flux and byproduct accumulation in the microbial chassis. Here, we present a multitiered engineering strategy to enhance the NeuAc production in <i>Escherichia coli</i>: dynamic control of PEP metabolism-related genes, global transcription machinery engineering, and biosensor-guided screening of the carbon starvation regulator CsiR mutant. The engineered strain DN20 achieved 28.17 g/L NeuAc in shake-flask fermentation using glucose─a 1.6-fold increase over the parent strain DN11 and the highest shake-flask titer for glucose-based <i>E. coli</i> systems. Transcriptomic analysis was performed to investigate the potential impact of CsiR overexpression on NeuAc biosynthesis. This work establishes a multisynthetic biology strategy fusion for metabolic reprogramming and provides a reference for optimizing high-value biochemical production.

Journal of Agricultural and Food ChemistryVol. 74(8)
Shandong University (CN), Luye Pharma (China) (CN), State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology
Openalex Percentile: Top 45%
Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
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