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Cited by 1,945Microbial Metabolic Engineering and BioproductionBiofuel production and bioconversionBiochemical and biochemical processes

Non-fermentative pathways for synthesis of branched-chain higher alcohols as biofuels

Atsumi, Shota, Hanai, Taizo, Liao, James C.·2008·Nature
DOI 10.1038/nature06450
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Abstract

Global energy and environmental problems have stimulated increased efforts towards synthesizing biofuels from renewable resources. Compared to the traditional biofuel, ethanol, higher alcohols offer advantages as gasoline substitutes because of their higher energy density and lower hygroscopicity. In addition, branched-chain alcohols have higher octane numbers compared with their straight-chain counterparts. However, these alcohols cannot be synthesized economically using native organisms. Here we present a metabolic engineering approach using Escherichia coli to produce higher alcohols including isobutanol, 1-butanol, 2-methyl-1-butanol, 3-methyl-1-butanol and 2-phenylethanol from glucose, a renewable carbon source. This strategy uses the host's highly active amino acid biosynthetic pathway and diverts its 2-keto acid intermediates for alcohol synthesis. In particular, we have achieved high-yield, high-specificity production of isobutanol from glucose. The strategy enables the exploration of biofuels beyond those naturally accumulated to high quantities in microbial fermentation.

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Crossref · 10.1038/nature06450

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32 of 32 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The cyanobacterial cumulative isobutanol titre of 1247 mg/L over 58 days equates to approximately 21.5 mg L−1 d−1 average daily productivity, compared to approximately 10,900 mg L−1 d−1 for E. coli.

    “The cyanobacterial cumulative titre of 1247 mg/L over 58 days equates to approximately 21.5 mg L−1 d−1 average daily productivity, compared to approximately 10,900 mg L−1 d−1 for E. coli—a several-hundred-fold difference reflecting light-dependent growth constraints rather than poor pathway design.”

    From Cyanobacteria as a Photosynthetic Chassis for Metabolic Pathway Engineering with Heterologous Gene Expression (2026) · cites this paper as [175]

  • Longer chain alcohols possess higher energy content and can be stored and transported easier than ethanol.

    “The longer chain alcohols possess higher energy content and can be stored and transported easier than ethanol (Atsumi et al. 2008).”

    From Renewable energy from Cyanobacteria: energy production optimization by metabolic pathway engineering (2011) · cites this paper as Atsumi et al. 2008

  • Production of longer chain alcohols (C5-C8) in E. coli has been achieved by overproduction of 2-keto acids, intermediates of amino acid biosynthesis, later converted to butanol derivatives by heterologous expression of 2-keto acid decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase.

    “The production of longer chain alcohols (C5–C–8) in E. coli bacteria has been achieved by the overproduction of 2-keto acids, intermediates of the amino acid biosynthesis. These intermediates were later converted to butanol derivatives by the heterologous expression of 2-keto acid decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase (Atsumi et al. 2008; Zhang et al. 2008).”

    From Renewable energy from Cyanobacteria: energy production optimization by metabolic pathway engineering (2011) · cites this paper as Atsumi et al. 2008

  • It is difficult to identify a microorganism suitable to produce C5 and other C4 substituted alcohols from sugar glucose while minimising the steps in the process and making it cost effective.

    “It is difficult to identify a microorganism suitable to produce C5 and other C4 substituted alcohols from sugar glucose while minimising the steps in the process and making it cost effective [141].”

    From Investigation of Biofuel as a Potential Renewable Energy Source (2021) · cites this paper as [141]

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Authors
Atsumi, S., Hanai, T., & Liao, J. C.
Affiliations
University of California, Los Angeles (US)
Corresponding author
Liao, James C.
ORCID
Venue
Nature
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Published
2008-01
Volume
451
Issue
7174
Pages
86-89
ISSN
  • 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
  • 1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/nature06450
OpenAlex
W1978119727
Cited by
1,945
References
32
Citations by year
2026: 50 · 2025: 55 · 2024: 66 · 2023: 72 · 2022: 113 · 2021: 111 · 2020: 121 · 2019: 86 · 2018: 98 · 2017: 103 · 2016: 131 · 2015: 137 · 2014: 148 · 2013: 153 · 2012: 162
FWCI
46.30
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
Locations
  • Nature (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Funders
U.S. Department of Energy
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction
  • Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Biofuel production and bioconversion
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Biotechnology › Biochemical and biochemical processes
Keywords
isobutanol, n-butanol, 2-phenylethanol, Escherichia coli metabolic engineering, glucose fermentation, biofuels, gasoline substitute, octane number
MeSH terms
Butanols, Bioelectric Energy Sources, Escherichia coli, Fermentation, Genetic Engineering, Glucose

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