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영어

Isoprene is a volatile C5 terpenoid that is released mainly from the leaves of many deciduous broad-leaved trees and some bacteria. Isoprene is present under standard conditions as a colorless liquid and it is the monomer of natural rubber and is a precursor to an immense
variety of other naturally occurring compounds. Isoprene is an important chemical feedstock used in the synthetic rubber industry. About 800,000 tons per year of cis-polyisoprene are produced from the polymerization of isoprene, most of this polyisoprene is used in the tire and rubber industry. Isoprene is made from dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) by isoprene synthase via methyl erythritol 1-phosphate pathway (MEP). In this study, we constructed plasmid
containing isoprene synthase (ispS) from three kinds of plant, Poplar alba, Poplar trichocarpa,and kudzu and introduced into E. coli to produce isoprene in E. coli. We confirmed isoprene production in E. coli and expecting that isoprene can be made in E. coli much more
than now by our advanced metabolic engineering system. Isoprene formation is observed in the recombinant E. coli, which suggests E. coli as potential host strain for isoprene production. This work was supported by the EB-NCRC (Grant No. R15-2003-012-02001-0),
KRIBB Research Initiative Program, and BK21 program of Korea.