Microbial Production of Amine Chemicals from Sustainable Substrates

With global population projected to be almost 10 billion people by 2050, the demand for food, chemicals and energy is expected to rise continuously. Nitrogen-containing (N-containing) compounds play a key role in many aspects of life and commercial processes, from the industrial production of fertilizers to the building blocks of life. Bio-based production of these N-containing compounds is gaining importance and replacing chemical synthesis approaches because of their economic and environmental advantages. Microbial synthesis often offers one-step fermentations and formation of less hazardous wastes as advantages compared to chemical synthesis. Moreover, microbial synthesis has additional benefits that include the use of renewable sources like side stream biomasses, adding environmental-friendly value to the bioprocesses. Many genetic engineering technologies have important impact in the field of metabolic engineering with microbial workhorses like the bacteria Escherichia coli or Corynebacterium glutamicum. The product spectrum of these production hosts has been expanded extensively to comprise valuable N-containing chemicals like amino acids, diamines, or lactams among others, which have great interest, for instance, as feed additives, as bioplastics precursors, or as molecules with relevant pharmacological activity. This chapter summarizes the most recent advances in metabolic engineering of biotechnologically relevant microbial hosts to produce N-containing chemicals.