Design and Construction of a Non-Natural Malate to 1,2,4-Butanetriol Pathway Creates Possibility to Produce 1,2,4-Butanetriol from Glucose

1,2,4-butanetriol (BT) is an important bulk chemical mainly used for producing the superior energetic plasticizer (1,2,4-butanetriol trinitrate) in propellant and explosive formulations. BT is commercially produced by chemical synthesis from petroleum-based feedstocks; until recently a costly biosynthetic route from xylose or arabinose was reported. Here we designed a novel biosynthetic pathway for BT from malate, for the purpose of using glucose as an alternative and cheaper substrate in future. This biosynthetic pathway was achieved through six sequential enzymatic reactions. Following tests of several combinations of enzymes for the pathway, five enzymes including malate thiokinase, succinate-semialdehyde dehydrogenase, 4-hydroxybutyrate dehydrogenase, 4-hydroxybutyrate CoA-transferase and bifunctional aldehyde/alcohol dehydrogenase were finally chosen. All enzyme genes were expressed on two compatible plasmids in E. coli, and their functions verified separately. Following assembly of two functional modules, BT was detected in the fermentation broth upon addition of malate, proving BT can be biosynthesized from malate. Furthermore, BT was detected in the fermentation using glucose as the sole carbon source, suggesting that such novel BT biosynthetic pathway has created the possibility for the production of BT from the cheaper substrate glucose.