Novel aspects of ethylene glycol catabolism
Tetsu Shimizu, Masayuki Inui
Abstract
Abstract Ethylene glycol (EG) is an industrially important two-carbon diol used as a solvent, antifreeze agent, and building block of polymers such as poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET). Recently, the use of EG as a starting material for the production of bio-fuels or bio-chemicals is gaining attention as a sustainable process since EG can be derived from materials not competing with human food stocks including CO 2 , syngas, lignocellulolytic biomass, and PET waste. In order to design and construct microbial process for the conversion of EG to value-added chemicals, microbes capable of catabolizing EG such as Escherichia coli , Pseudomonas putida , Rhodococcus jostii , Ideonella sakaiensis , Paracoccus denitrificans , and Acetobacterium woodii are candidates of chassis for the construction of synthetic pathways. In this mini-review, we describe EG catabolic pathways and catabolic enzymes in these microbes, and further review recent advances in microbial conversion of EG to value-added chemicals by means of metabolic engineering. Key points • Ethylene glycol is a potential next-generation feedstock for sustainable industry. • Microbial conversion of ethylene glycol to value-added chemicals is gaining attention. • Ethylene glycol-utilizing microbes are useful as chassis for synthetic pathways.