Production of 1,3-propanediol from glycerol by engineered

1,3-Propanediol (1,3-PD) has versatile applications in polymers, cosmetics, foods and medicines. In order to consolidate the functions of glycerol dehydratase gene dhaB and 1,3-propanediol oxidoreductase gene dhaT and produce 1,3-PD from glycerol, the genes dhaB and dhaT from Klebsiellapneumoniae were inserted into a co-expression vector pACYCDuet-1 synchronously and the recombinant strain E. coli/pACYCDuet-dhaB-dhaT was obtained. Both enzymes were functionally coexpressed in E. coli at the presence of the selective pressure and the addition of the IPTG. The specificenzyme activity of DHAB and DHAT were 8.3 and 6.2 U/mg, respectively. When cultivated at 37°C for 30 h, the recombinant microorganisms produced 1,3-PD of 11.3 g with the consumption of 40 g glycerol per liter. The production of 1,3-PD by the strain E. coli/pACYCDuet-dhaB-dhaT was about 13-fold higher than the recombinant E. coli harboring the gene dhaB