Abstract Protocatechuic acid (PCA) and hydroquinone (HQ) are two important phenolic molecules with recognized biological activities and industrial values. In the present study, we constructed a series of E. coli mono-cultures and co-cultures for the PCA and HQ biosynthesis from simple carbon substrate glucose. Metabolic engineering strategies, include over-expression of key pathway enzymes and utilization of biosensor-assisted cell selection, were adapted to improve the pathway intermediate supply and the overall biosynthesis. The comparative analysis showed that the adapted strategies had different degrees of impacts on the biosynthesis performance of the constructed mono-cultures and co-cultures. The highest PCA and HQ bioproduction (641 and 303 mg/L, respectively) was achieved using the optimized co-culture. Our findings show that, compared with mono-cultures, rationally designed co-cultures provide a new perspective for application of advanced metabolic engineering strategies.

中文翻译：

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比较用于原儿茶酸和氢醌生物合成的大肠杆菌单一培养物和共培养物

摘要 原儿茶酸（PCA）和对苯二酚（HQ）是两种重要的酚类分子，具有公认的生物活性和工业价值。在本研究中，我们构建了一系列大肠杆菌单培养物和共培养物，用于从简单的碳底物葡萄糖进行 PCA 和 HQ 生物合成。代谢工程策略，包括关键途径酶的过度表达和生物传感器辅助细胞选择的利用，适用于改善途径中间供应和整体生物合成。比较分析表明，适应策略对构建的单一培养物和共培养物的生物合成性能有不同程度的影响。使用优化的共培养实现了最高的 PCA 和 HQ 生物产量（分别为 641 和 303 毫克/升）。我们的研究结果表明，