Enhanced production of poly-3-hydroxybutyrate by Escherichia coli over-expressing multiple copies of NAD kinase integrated in the host genome

With the help of attB-attP recombination technique, multiple copies of yfjB gene encoding the NAD kinase of Escherichia coli were inserted into the host chromosome to promote NADPH-dependent poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) production. The yfjB integration mutant E. coli T2 harbored a similar metabolic profile to that of the wild type control. When PHB biosynthesis operon was introduced, the yfjB integration mutant produced 3 g PHB l(-1) from 18.2 g glucose l(-1), while the wild type consumed 15.7 g glucose l(-1) to afford 2.34 g PHB l(-1) in 48 h of shake-flask cultivation. Transcriptional analysis showed that the transcription levels of genes within the PHB biosynthesis operon were increased by six to eightfold with yfj Bover-expression, which may be the primary reason for the improved PHB production. A practical method is demonstrated to construct genetically-stable strains harboring extra copies of NAD kinase to enhance NADPH-dependent reactions.