Bio-based Hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) Strain Engineering

Hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) is a critical precursor for the production of Nylon-6,6, a high-value polymer. Traditional chemical synthesis methods, such as the hydrogenation of adiponitrile or the amination of 1,6-hexanediol derived from butadiene, are challenged by high-cost, high-pressure conditions, and reliance on fossil fuels.

CD Biosynsis focuses on developing highly efficient microbial cell factories for the sustainable production of HMDA. We employ precise metabolic engineering strategies to design and optimize novel six-carbon synthetic pathways in host organisms like E. coli, utilizing renewable carbon sources (e.g., glucose, lysine). Our goal is to achieve high yield and titer of HMDA, enabling an economically viable and environmentally friendly alternative to petrochemical routes.

Pain Points

The transition to bio-based HMDA production faces several critical biological and industrial limitations:

• Low Product Titer and Yield: The synthetic pathways often suffer from low pathway flux, resulting in a low final concentration (titer) of HMDA in the fermentation broth, making downstream recovery costly.
• Competition with Native Metabolism: Key intermediates (e.g., adipic acid, L-lysine) are often rapidly consumed by native metabolic pathways, diverting carbon away from HMDA synthesis.
• Enzyme Performance Limitation: The novel enzymes required for the synthetic pathway (e.g., Aminotransferase, Carboxylate Reductase) often exhibit low catalytic efficiency and poor specificity for the six-carbon substrates.
• Product Toxicity to Host Cell: HMDA at high concentrations can be toxic to the microbial host (E. coli), inhibiting cell growth and limiting the achievable final titer.

Overcoming these challenges requires comprehensive metabolic reprogramming to efficiently channel carbon flux towards HMDA synthesis and production.

Solutions

CD Biosynsis applies advanced synthetic biology and metabolic engineering to enhance the efficiency of renewable carbon source conversion into HMDA:

De Novo Pathway Design and Optimization

We design six-carbon synthetic pathways from robust metabolic intermediates (e.g., Lysine) or intermediates like 6-Aminohexanoate, maximizing carbon flux to the final product.

Enzyme Engineering for High Activity

We employ directed evolution and rational design to optimize key bottleneck enzymes, such as Aminotransferase and Carboxylate Reductase, enhancing their activity and specificity for HMDA precursors.

Carbon Flux Reprogramming

Native metabolic pathways competing with HMDA synthesis are knocked out or attenuated, ensuring efficient channeling of carbon precursors towards the desired six-carbon chain.

Tolerance and Bioprocess Enhancement

We engineer the cell envelope and transport mechanisms to improve host tolerance to high HMDA concentrations, allowing for higher final titer and simplified downstream processing.

This multi-faceted engineering ensures a significant leap in microbial performance, making bio-based HMDA production cost-effective and scalable.

Advantages

Choosing CD Biosynsis's HMDA strain engineering service offers the following core value:

Expertise in Diamine Pathway Engineering

We specialize in designing and balancing novel non-natural pathways for diamines and diacids, which are critical for nylon monomers.

High Titer and Yield Strains

Our engineered strains demonstrate a significantly improved carbon conversion efficiency, leading to a higher final HMDA concentration, reducing purification costs.

Renewable and Sustainable Production

The strains utilize low-cost renewable feedstocks (e.g., glucose) instead of petrochemicals, offering a clear environmental benefit and supply chain stability.

Accelerated Commercialization Timeline

Advanced computational modeling combined with rapid genetic engineering accelerates the identification of optimal strains for scale-up.

Robust and Scalable Host

The engineered E. coli chassis is designed for robust performance in large-scale industrial fermentation, ensuring reliable production.

We are dedicated to providing genetically superior microbial strains to drive the commercial success of the bio-based Nylon industry.

Process

CD Biosynsis's HMDA strain engineering service follows a standardized research workflow, ensuring every step is precise and controllable:

• Host Analysis and Pathway Modeling: Define target HMDA titer and yield. Conduct Flux Balance Analysis (FBA) to identify rate-limiting steps and competitive pathways in E. coli or other hosts.
• Technical Solution Design: Formulate the engineering plan, focusing on the selection of optimal synthetic routes (e.g., Lysine-to-HMDA), promoter optimization, and enzyme selection.
• Strain Editing and Construction: Complete the construction of synthetic operons. Use CRISPR or other tools for the precise editing and stable chromosomal integration of the designed pathway.
• Performance Validation Experiments: Conduct fed-batch fermentation experiments, measuring the difference in final HMDA titer (g/L), specific production rate, and carbon yield between the engineered strain and the parent strain.
• Result Report Output: Compile a Strain Engineering Experimental Report that includes fermentation kinetics, metabolic flux data, and detailed chemical analysis (HPLC/GC) of the final HMDA product purity.

Technical communication is maintained throughout the process, focusing on timely performance feedback and strategic adjustments to the metabolic engineering plan.

Accelerate your Bio-based HMDA R&D and scale-up! CD Biosynsis provides customized HMDA strain engineering solutions:

• Detailed FBA and Synthetic Pathway Report, outlining the most impactful genetic targets for HMDA production.
• Contracted clients receive consultation on optimizing fermentation conditions for enhanced titer and yield.
• Experimental reports include complete raw data on growth kinetics, carbon conversion efficiency, and final HMDA titer, essential for commercialization.