Large-scale production of N-acetyllactosamine through bacterial coupling

A large-scale production system of N-acetyllactosamine, a core structure of various oligosaccharides, was established by a whole-cell reaction through the combination of recombinant Escherichia coli strains and Corynebacterium ammoniagenes. Two recombinant E. coli strains over-expressed the UDP-Gal biosynthetic genes and the beta-(1-->4)-galactosyltransferase gene of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, respectively. C. ammoniagenes contributed the production of UTP from orotic acid. N-Acetyllactosamine was accumulated at 279 mM (107 g L-1) after a 38 h reaction (2.5 L in volume) starting from orotic acid, D-galactose, and 2-acetamido-2-deoxy-D-glucose.