The Butanol Producing Microbe Clostridium beijerinckii NCIMB 14988 Manipulated Using Forward and Reverse Genetic Tools

The solventogenic anaerobe Clostridium beijerinckii has potential for use in the sustainable bioconversion of plant‐derived carbohydrates into solvents, such as butanol or acetone. However, relatively few strains have been extensively characterised either at the genomic level or through exemplification of a complete genetic toolkit. To remedy this situation, a new strain of C. beijerinckii, NCIMB 14988, is selected from among a total of 55 new clostridial isolates capable of growth on hexose and pentose sugars. Chosen on the basis of its favorable properties, the complete genome sequence of NCIMB 14988 is determined and a high‐efficiency plasmid transformation protocol devised. The developed DNA transfer procedure allowed demonstration in NCIMB 14988 of the forward and reverse genetic techniques of transposon mutagenesis and gene knockout, respectively. The latter is accomplished through the successful deployment of both group II intron retargeting (ClosTron) and allelic exchange. In addition to gene inactivation, the developed allelic exchange procedure is used to create point mutations in the chromosome, allowing for the effect of amino acid changes in enzymes involved in primary metabolism to be characterized. ClosTron mediated disruption of the currently unannotated non‐coding region between genes LF65_05915 and LF65_05920 is found to result in a non‐sporulating phenotype. The anaerobe Clostridium beijerinckii has potential applications in the industrial production of solvents. Methods for forward and reverse genetics have been exemplified in the newly isolated C. beijerinckii NCIMB 14988, along with obtaining the complete genome sequence. A novel method for creating point mutations in Clostridium strains is described. ClosTron disruption of a non‐coding region results in a non‐sporulating phenotype.