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The bacterium Ralstonia eutropha H16 synthesizes polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) from acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl-CoA) through reactions catalyzed by a ␤-ketothiolase (PhaA), an acetoacetyl-CoA reductase (PhaB), and a polyhydroxyalkanoate synthase (PhaC). An operon of three genes encoding these enzymatic steps was discovered in R. eutropha and has been well studied. Sequencing and analysis of the R. eutropha genome revealed putative isologs for each of the PHB biosynthetic genes, many of which had never been characterized. In addition to the previously identified phaB1 gene, the genome contains the isologs phaB2 and phaB3 as well as 15 other potential acetoacetyl-CoA reductases. We have investigated the roles of the three phaB isologs by deleting them from the genome individually and in combination. It was discovered that the gene products of both phaB1 and phaB3 contribute to PHB biosynthesis in fructose minimal medium but that in plant oil minimal medium and rich medium, phaB3 seems to be unexpressed. This raises interesting questions concerning the regulation of phaB3 expression. Deletion of the gene phaB2 did not result in an observable phenotype under the conditions tested, although this gene does encode an active reductase. Addition of the individual reductase genes to the genome of the ⌬phaB1 ⌬phaB2 ⌬phaB3 strain restored PHB production, and in the course of our complementation experiments, we serendipitously created a PHB-hyperproducing mutant. Measurement of the PhaB and PhaA activities of the mutant strains indicated that the thiolase reaction is the limiting step in PHB biosynthesis in R. eutropha H16 during nitrogen-limited growth on fructose.

Wild type Ralstonia eutropha H16 produces polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) as an intracellular carbon storage material during nutrient stress in the presence of excess carbon. In this study, the excess carbon was redirected in engineered strains from PHB storage to the production of isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol (branched-chain higher alcohols). These branched-chain higher alcohols can directly substitute for fossil-based fuels and be employed within the current infrastructure. Various mutant strains of R. eutropha with isobutyraldehyde dehydrogenase activity, in combination with the overexpression of plasmid-borne, native branched-chain amino acid biosynthesis pathway genes and the overexpression of heterologous ketoisovalerate decarboxylase gene, were employed for the biosynthesis of isobutanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol. Production of these branched-chain alcohols was initiated during nitrogen or phosphorus limitation in the engineered R. eutropha. One mutant strain not only produced over 180 mg/L branched-chain alcohols in flask culture, but also was significantly more tolerant of isobutanol toxicity than wild type R. eutropha. After elimination of genes encoding three potential carbon sinks (ilvE, bkdAB, and aceE), the production titer improved to 270 mg/L isobutanol and 40 mg/L 3-methyl-1-butanol. Continuous flask cultivation was utilized to minimize the toxicity caused by isobutanol while supplying cells with sufficient nutrients. Under this continuous flask cultivation, the R. eutropha mutant grew and produced more than 14 g/L branched-chain alcohols over the duration of 50 days. These results demonstrate that R. eutropha carbon flux can be redirected from PHB to branched-chain alcohols and that engineered R. eutropha can be cultivated over prolonged periods of time for product biosynthesis.