Fig. 1
Expression of isoprene synthase (ispS) in E. coli. Strains carrying the empty plasmid pCOLA, the plasmid containing ispS (pCOLA::IspS) or the plasmid containing ispS and idi (pCOLA::IspS-idi) are compared. a Influence on E. coli growth. E. coli carrying the empty plasmid shows normal exponential growth kinetics. b Influence on MEP pathway intermediate concentrations. The concentration is shown relative to wild-type bacteria carrying the empty vector pCOLA. The data represent the mean of biological triplicates (\(\overline{\varvec{x}}\)± SE; n = 3). c The MEP pathway in E. coli. The metabolite DXP is also a precursor for the synthesis of vitamin B6 and thiamin. Ispoprene can be synthesized through the heterologous expression of ispS (shown in red). DXP 1-deoxy-d-xylulose 5-phosphate, MEP 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 4-phosphate, MEcPP 2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 2,4-cyclopyrophosphate, ME-CDP 4-diphosphocytidyl-2-C-methylerythritol, MEP-CDP 4-diphosphocytidyl-2-C-methyl-d-erythritol 2-phosphate, HMBPP 4-hydroxy-3-methyl-but-2-enyl pyrophosphate, IPP isopentenyl pyrophosphate, DMAPP dimethylallyl pyrophosphate, GAP glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, Dxs DXP synthase, Dxr DXP reductoisomerase, IspD MEP cytidylyltransferase, IspE ME-CDP kinase, IspF MEcPP synthase, IspG HMBPP synthase, IspH HMBPP reductase, Idi isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase, IspS isoprene synthase