Surfactant-mediated bio-manufacture: A unique strategy for promoting microbial biochemicals production

Yunxin Yi; Xiaofan Jin; Moutong Chen; Teodora Emilia Coldea; Haifeng Zhao

doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108373

Surfactant-mediated bio-manufacture: A unique strategy for promoting microbial biochemicals production

Biotechnol Adv. 2024 May 3:73:108373. doi: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108373. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Yunxin Yi¹, Xiaofan Jin¹, Moutong Chen², Teodora Emilia Coldea³, Haifeng Zhao⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China.
² Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Microbial Safety and Health, State Key Laboratory of Applied Microbiology Southern China, Institute of Microbiology, Guangdong Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510070, China.
³ Faculty of Food Science and Technology, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj-Napoca 400372, Romania.
⁴ School of Food Science and Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Research Institute for Food Nutrition and Human Health, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: hfzhao@scut.edu.cn.

PMID: 38704106
DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2024.108373

Abstract

Biochemicals are widely used in the medicine and food industries and are more efficient and safer than synthetic chemicals. The amphipathic surfactants can interact with the microorganisms and embed the extracellular metabolites, which induce microbial metabolites secretion and biosynthesis, performing an attractive prospect of promoting the biochemical production. However, the commonness and differences of surfactant-mediated bio-manufacture in various fields are largely unexplored. Accordingly, this review comprehensively summarized the properties of surfactants, different application scenarios of surfactant-meditated bio-manufacture, and the mechanism of surfactants increasing metabolites production. Various biochemical productions such as pigments, amino acids, and alcohols could be enhanced using the cloud point and the micelles of surfactants. Besides, the amphiphilicity of surfactants also promoted the utilization of fermentation substrates, especially lignocellulose and waste sludge, by microorganisms, indirectly increasing the metabolites production. The increase in target metabolites production was attributed to the surfactants changing the permeability and composition of the cell membrane, hence improving the secretion ability of microorganisms. Moreover, surfactants could regulate the energy metabolism, the redox state and metabolic flow in microorganisms, which induced target metabolites synthesis. This review aimed to broaden the application fields of surfactants and provide novel insights into the production of microbial biochemicals.

Keywords: Bio-manufacture; Biochemicals production; Cloud point; Fermentation substrates; Intracellular homeostasis; Surfactants; Transport system.

Publication types

Review