Cupriavidus necator as a platform for PHA production: An overview of strains, metabolism, and modeling approaches

Biotechnol Adv. 2023 Sep 27:108264. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2023.108264. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTCupriavidus necator is a bacterium with a high phenotypic diversity and versatile metabolic capabilities. It has been extensively studied as a model hydrogen oxidizer, as well as a producer of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), plastic-like biopolymers with a high potential to substitute petroleum-based materials. Thanks to its adaptability to diverse metabolic lifestyles and to the ability to accumulate large amounts of PHA, C. necator is employed in many biotechnological processes, with particular focus on PHA production from waste carbon sources. The large availability of genomic information has enabled a characterization of C. necator's metabolism, leading to the establishment of metabolic models which are used to devise and optimize culture conditions and genetic engineering approaches. In this work, the characteristics of available C. necator strains and genomes are reviewed, highlighting how a thorough comprehension of the genetic variability of C. necator is lacking and it could be instrumental for wider application of this microorganism. The metabolic paradigms of C. necator and how they are connected to PHA production and accumulation are described, also recapitulating the variety of carbon substrates used for PHA accumulation, highlighting the most promising strategies to increase the yield. Finally, the review describes and critically analyzes currently available gen...

Source: Biotechnology Advances - September 29, 2023 Category: Biotechnology Authors: Maria Silvia Morlino Rebecca Serna Garc ía Filippo Savio Guido Zampieri Tomas Morosinotto Laura Treu Stefano Campanaro Source Type: research