Advances in the Metabolic Engineering of <i>Escherichia coli</i> for the Manufacture of Monoterpenes

Monoterpenes are commonly applied as pharmaceuticals and valuable chemicals in various areas. The bioproduction of valuable monoterpenes in prokaryotic microbial hosts, such as E. coli, has progressed considerably thanks to the development of different outstanding approaches. However, the large-scale production of monoterpenes still presents considerable limitations. Thus, process development warrants further investigations. This review discusses the endogenous methylerythritol-4-phosphate-dependent pathway engineering and the exogenous mevalonate-dependent isoprenoid pathway introduction, as well as the accompanied optimization of rate-limiting enzymes, metabolic flux, and product toxicity tolerance. We suggest further studies to focus on the development of systematical, integrational, and synthetic biological strategies in light of the inter disciplines at the cutting edge. Our review provides insights into the current advances of monoterpene bioengineering and serves as a reference for future studies to promote the industrial production of valuable monoterpenes