Construction of homologous and heterologous synthetic sucrose utilizing modules and their application for carotenoid production in recombinant Escherichia coli

Sucrose is one of the most promising carbon sources for industrial fermentation. We expressed synthetic modules expressing genes of the PEP-PTS and non-PTS pathways in Escherichia coli K12 for comparison. We selected PEP-PTS pathway genes of Lactobacillus plantarum and Staphylococcus xylosus and non-PTS pathway genes of sucrose-utilizing (Scr+) E. coli EC3132. Switchable Scr+ modules expressing E. coli EC3132 non-PTS genes conferred better sucrose-utilizing ability on Scr− E. coli K12 than E. coli EC3132. Scr+ modules expressing S. xylosus PEP-PTS genes conferred a sucrose-utilizing ability on E. coli K12. Among L. plantarum PEP-PTS genes, SacALP and SacKLP were functional in E. coli K12. CscAEC–CscBEC–CscKEC (non-PEP-PTS module) or ScrASX–SacALP–SacKLP (PEP-PTS module) was introduced to a diapolycopene-producing E. coli strain. In both Scr+ E. coli K12, the sucrose-utilizing ability of the modules was not affected by diapolycopene formation, indicating that the modular Scr+ systems could be employed for developing sustainable bioprocesses using sucrose.