Abstract

Formate can be efficiently produced via electrochemical or photochemical catalytic conversion of CO₂, and it can be directly used as an organic carbon source by microorganisms. In theory, formate can be used as the sole carbon source for the microbial production of high-value-added chemicals. Consequently, the construction of efficient formate-assimilation pathways in microorganisms is essential for the utilization of cheap, renewable one-carbon compounds. This paper summarizes new methods of formate synthesis, as well as the natural formate utilization pathways of microorganisms with their advantages and disadvantages. Furthermore, it reviews recent progress in the design of utilization pathways for formate in microbial cells through metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. Besides, we also use the pathway-prediction algorithm comb-FBA to rationally design completely new one-carbon compounds utilization pathways. The pathway with the highest efficiency, named GAA, was corroborated by the in vitro experiments showing a carbon molar yield up to 88%. Finally, it discusses the main problems and challenges presently existing in the pathway design and strain improvement for microbial utilization of formate.

Key points

• Natural and artificial design pathways of formate-assimilation was summarized.

• Recent progresses in different hosts and approaches of using one-carbon compounds was reviewed.

• Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology methods to improve formate utilization were discussed.

中文翻译：

---

微生物甲酸同化代谢工程的最新进展。

摘要

甲酸酯可通过电化学或光化学催化转化CO ₂来高效生产，它可以被微生物直接用作有机碳源。从理论上讲，甲酸盐可以用作微生物生产高附加值化学品的唯一碳源。因此，在微生物中构建有效的甲酸同化途径对于利用廉价的可再生一碳化合物至关重要。本文总结了甲酸合成的新方法，以及微生物的天然甲酸利用途径及其优点和缺点。此外，它回顾了通过代谢工程和合成生物学在微生物细胞中甲酸利用途径设计方面的最新进展。此外，我们还使用路径预测算法梳状FBA来合理设计全新的一碳化合物利用路径。体外实验证实了效率最高的途径称为GAA，显示碳摩尔产率高达88％。最后，讨论了甲酸设计中微生物利用途径设计和菌株改良中目前存在的主要问题和挑战。

关键点

•总结了甲酸同化的自然和人工设计途径。

•回顾了不同宿主和使用一碳化合物的方法的最新进展。

•讨论了改善甲酸利用的代谢工程和合成生物学方法。