Metabolic Engineering of Microbes for the Green Production of C2-C6 Diols.

C2–C6 diols are very important bulk chemicals which have been widely used in a range of areas, including solvents, fuels, polymers, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals. Bioproduction of C2–C6 diols from renewable resources is a promising route for sustainable chemical industry as demonstrated by successful commercialization of biological processes of certain diols (e.g. 1,3-propanediol an 1,4-butanediol) in the past 20 years. However, biosynthesis of many other important C2–C6 diol isomers is highly challenging due to the lack of natural synthesis pathways. Recent advances in synthetic biology have enabled the de novo design of completely new pathways to non-natural molecules from renewable feedstocks. In this study, I will present our efforts in the design of new metabolic pathways for the production of different C2–C6 diols. Especially, I will focus on new metabolic pathways and metabolic engineering strategies for the production of 1,3-propanediol, 1,3-butanediol, and 1,5-pentanediol. Our efforts show that it is very promising to develop economically competitive processes for these diols in next few years.