Engineering a Metabolic Pathway for Isobutanol Biosynthesis in Bacillus subtilis

Isobutanol can be biosynthesized via alpha-ketoisovalerate catalyzed by heterologous keto acid decarboxylase (KDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH). In this work, isobutanol biosynthesis pathway was designed in Bacillus subtilis, a notable solvent-tolerant host. In order to do that, a plasmid pPKA expressing KDC and ADH under the control of a B. subtilis strong promoter P-43 was constructed. Isobutanol was detected in the products of the recombinant B. subtilis harboring pPKA plasmid, whereas none was detected by the wild-type strain. Effects of the medium ingredients such as glucose concentration and valine addition, and operating parameters such as initial pH, inoculation volume, and medium work volume on isobutanol production were also investigated. Isobutanol production reached to the maximum of 0.607 g/L after 35-h cultivation under the conditions: glucose concentration of 3%, valine addition of 2%, initial pH of 7.0, inoculum of 1%, and work volume of 50 mL/250 mL. Though the isobutanol production by the recombinant was low, it was the first successful attempt to produce isobutanol in engineered B. subtilis, and the results showed its great potential as an isobutanol-producing cell factory.