A comprehensive review on the recent advances for 5-aminolevulinic acid production by the engineered bacteria

Abstract

5-Aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA) is a non-proteinogenic amino acid essential for synthesizing tetrapyrrole compounds, including heme, chlorophyll, cytochrome, and vitamin B12. As a plant growth regulator, 5-ALA is extensively used in agriculture to enhance crop yield and quality. The complexity and low yield of chemical synthesis methods have led to significant interest in the microbial synthesis of 5-ALA. Advanced strategies, including the: enhancement of precursor and cofactor supply, compartmentalization of key enzymes, product transporters engineering, by-product formation reduction, and biosensor-based dynamic regulation, have been implemented in bacteria for 5-ALA production, significantly advancing its industrialization. This article offers a comprehensive review of recent developments in 5-ALA production using engineered bacteria and presents new insights to propel the field forward.

Graphical Abstract

Keywords:

• 5-Aminolevulinic acid
• C4 pathway
• C5 pathway
• metabolic engineering
• cell factory

Authors contributions

STQ provided the idea. CYY, HJC, WCY wrote the manuscript. STQ, YC, WYT, and YSQ revised the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China [No.2019YFA0904900], National Natural Science Foundation of China [22308167, 22208167], Basic science (natural science) research project in colleges and universities of Jiangsu Province [23KJB180012], National Natural Science Foundation young investigator grant program [32300079].