E. coli rewired to shift carbon flow towards C4 chemicals

Leveraging the ability of living systems to evolve and overcome complex problems, scientists in the US have created strains of Escherichia coli capable of anaerobically producing n-butanol, 1,3-butanediol and 4-hydroxy-2-butanone. The team identified two gene loci responsible for altering the flow of carbon from acetyl coenzyme A towards valuable C4 commodity chemicals instead of biomass. Matthew Davis who contributed to the research as a graduate student in Michelle Chang’s lab at the University of California, Berkeley, describes the work as ‘an example of the classic experimental strategy of using evolution to efficiently find solutions to complex biological problems.’