Batch Production of Coenzyme Q By Metabolic Engineered Escherichia coli strains

Coenzyme Q (CoQ) plays an important role as an electron transporter in the respiratory chain. It is formed from a benzoquinone ring and an isoprenoid chain of a specific length depending on the organism. CoQ10 has been used in the treatment of different diseases including Parkinsons, Alzheimer and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, it is used as a dietary supplement and in cosmetic applications due to its important antioxidant property. Escherichia coli produces CoQ8 naturally but it is able to produce CoQ10 when an heterologous decaprenyl synthase is expressed. E. coli is easy to culture and relatively easy to modify genetically which makes it suitable for the development of an industrial-scale process. In a previous work, we constructed strains unable to produce demethylmenaquinone (DMK) and menaquinone (MK), compounds that compete for both chorismate, precursor of the benzoquinone ring, and the isoprenoid chain. In addition, mutant strains unable to produce enterobactin, high affinity siderophore, synthesized from chorismate, were also constructed. These strains where designed as platforms for the generation of novel CoQ-producing strains. In the present work, the Batch production of CoQ was evaluated in these strains using different carbon sources, such as glucose, fructose, succinate and glycerol, in a Lab-Scale Bioreactor.