Metabolic engineering strategies for caffeic acid production in Escherichia coli

Publication date: Available online 29 December 2018Source: Electronic Journal of BiotechnologyAuthor(s): Georgina Hernández-Chávez, Alfredo Martinez, Guillermo GossetAbstractCaffeic acid (3,4-dihydroxycinnamic acid) is an aromatic compound from the phenylpropanoid pathway. This natural product has antioxidant, antitumor, antiviral and anti-inflammatory activities. It is also a precursor of caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) a compound with potential as an anti-diabetic and liver-protective agent. Caffeic acid can be found at low concentrations in plant tissues and hence its purification is difficult and expensive. The knowledge regarding the pathways, enzymes and genes involved in caffeic acid biosynthesis has paved the way for enabling the design and construction of microbial strains with the capacity of synthesizing this metabolite. In this review, metabolic engineering strategies for the generation of Escherichia coli strains for the biotechnological production of caffeic acid are presented and discussed.
Source: Electronic Journal of Biotechnology - Category: Biotechnology Source Type: research