Amanda Lee, Bioengineering, Rice University, 6320 Main Street, Houston, TX 77005, Irene Martinez, Department of Bioengineering, Rice University, 6100 Main Street MS 142, Houston, TX 77005, George Bennett, Department of Biochemistry & Cell Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, and Ka Yiu San, Department of Bioengineering, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005.
C4 compounds, such as succinate, malate and fumarate, are used extensively as intermediates and additives in the production of biodegradable polymers, synthetic resins, pharmaceuticals and other chemicals. These compounds are traditionally obtained from non-renewable fossil fuels; although, many of them can be synthesized by bacteria such as Escherichia coli but with poor product yields. We will present the use of metabolic engineering approaches to develop a ‘green technology' for the production of C4 compounds by manipulating E. coli metabolic pathways to favor the synthesis of the compound of interest with improved product yields.