Microbial Adaptation to Enhance Stress Tolerance

Abstract

Microbial cell factories have been widely used in the production of various chemicals. Although synthetic biology is useful in improving the cell factories, adaptation is still widely applied to enhance its complex properties. Adaptation is an important strategy for enhancing stress tolerance in microbial cell factories. Adaptation involves gradual modifications of microorganisms in a stressful environment to enhance their tolerance. During adaptation, microorganisms use different mechanisms to enhance non-preferred substrate utilization and stress tolerance, thereby improving their ability to adapt for growth and survival. In this paper, the progress on the effects of adaptation on microbial substrate utilization capacity and environmental stress tolerance are reviewed, and the mechanisms involved in enhancing microbial adaptive capacity are discussed.

Keywords: adaptation; cross-protection against stress; epigenetic modification; microorganisms; synthetic biology; transcription factors.

FIGURE 1

Microbial stress adaptation. (A) Schematic diagram of long-term adaptation of microorganisms to their environment. (B) Schematic diagram of short-term adaptation of microorganisms to their environment.

FIGURE 2

Mechanisms of microbial stress adaptation. (A) When microorganisms are subjected to environmental stress, the long-retaining proteins are produced to protect the cells for a long time. (B) Effects of environmental stress on microbial epigenetic modifications. When microorganisms are stimulated by external environmental stress, epigenetic modifications are altered, affecting transcription and translation processes. (C) Microorganisms are adapted to a stressful environment, resulting in cross protection against stress. Growth advantages can also be shown when switching to other stressful environments.