초록
<P>Solvents toxicity is a major limiting factor hampering the cost-effective biotechnological production of chemicals. In <I>Clostridium acetobutylicum</I>, a functionally unknown protein (encoded by SMB_G1518) with a hypothetical alcohol interacting domain was identified. Disruption of SMB_G1518 and/or its downstream gene SMB_G1519 resulted in increased butanol tolerance, while overexpression of SMB_G1518-1519 decreased butanol tolerance. In addition, SMB_G1518-1519 also influences the production of pyruvate:ferredoxin oxidoreductase (PFOR) and flagellar protein hag, the maintenance of cell motility. We conclude that the system of SMB_G1518-1519 protein plays a role in the butanol sensitivity/tolerance phenotype of <I>C. acetobutylicum</I>, and can be considered as potential targets for engineering alcohol tolerance.</P>