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Application of quorum sensing system in microbial synthesis of valuable chemicals: a mini-review

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Abstract

With advantages of low substrates cost, high optical purity of end products and environmentally friendly fermentation process, microbial production of valuable chemicals grow rapidly. Compared with static microbial strain engineering strategies, such as gene deletion, overexpression and mutation, dynamic pathway regulation is a new approach that balances cellular growth and chemical production. Quorum sensing is a natural microbial communication system responsible for cell-density-related cell behaviors. Accordingly, quorum sensing systems can be employed to achieve dynamic regulation in microorganisms without the need for manual intervention or the use of chemical inducers. In this review, natural quorum sensing systems are firstly summarized. Then, recent progress in using quorum sensing circuits in the field of metabolic engineering is highlighted. The current application challenges of quorum sensing systems and future perspectives in microbial synthesis of chemicals are also discussed.

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Funding

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31600066, 32070111, 31870105), Rizhao Science and Technology Innovation Project (2020CXZX1206), the Science and Technology Program of the University of Jinan (XKY2028), and the Higher Educational Science and Technology Program of Jinan City (2021GXRC088).

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All the authors were involved in the conception and design of this review. PG, QM, SZ, CL, HZ, and SJ wrote the article; PG, JG, and QL read and corrected the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Pengfei Gu.

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Gu, P., Ma, Q., Zhao, S. et al. Application of quorum sensing system in microbial synthesis of valuable chemicals: a mini-review. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 38, 192 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-022-03382-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-022-03382-6

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