Advances and needs for endotoxin-free production strains.

Taguchi, Seiichi; Ooi, Toshihiko; Mizuno, Kouhei; Matsusaki, Hiromi

The choice of an appropriate microbial host cell and suitable production conditions is crucial for the downstream processing of pharmaceutical- and food-grade products. Although Escherichia coli serves as a highly valuable leading platform for the production of value-added products, like most Gram-negative bacteria, this bacterium contains a potent immunostimulatory lipopolysaccharide (LPS), referred to as an endotoxin. In contrast, Gram-positive bacteria, notably Bacillus, lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Corynebacterium, and yeasts have been extensively used as generally recognized as safe (GRAS) endotoxin-free platforms for the production of a variety of products. This review summarizes the currently available knowledge on the utilization of these representative Gram-positive bacteria for the production of eco- and bio-friendly products, particularly natural polyesters, polyhydroxyalkanoates, bacteriocins, and membrane proteins. The successful case studies presented here serve to inspire the use of these microorganisms as a main-player or by-player depending on their individual properties for the industrial production of these desirable targets.

GRAM-positive bacteria; ENDOTOXINS; POLYHYDROXYALKANOATES; BACILLUS subtilis; LACTIC acid bacteria; CORYNEBACTERIUM glutamicum; YEAST

Applied Microbiology & Biotechnology, 2015, Vol 99, Issue 22, p9349

0175-7598

Academic Journal

10.1007/s00253-015-6947-9