Recent biotechnological advances and future prospective of Bacillus licheniformis as microbial cell factories

Bacillus licheniformis is a characteristic Gram-positive bacterium originally found in soil. This microorganism has long been utilised as a workhorse for production of industrial enzymes or high value-added chemicals. With ever-increasing understanding on this strain and the maturation of the genetic technique, important advances have recently been made in developing B. licheniformis as an excellent chassis cell for synthetic biology. Here, we provide an overview of updated understanding on genome information, anaerobic metabolism, industrial applications of this strain. The state-of-art B. licheniformis genetics, especially its synthetic biology advances in biosensor, expression system and artificial metabolic pathways are illustrated. Finally, perspectives are offered for the limitations and challenges to be addressed to improve B. licheniformis as microbial cell factories.