Common problems associated with the microbial productions of aromatic compounds and corresponding metabolic engineering strategies

Recent progress in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology has enabled the production of valuable chemicals in microbial cell factories from renewable feedstocks. High value-added aromatic compounds, most of which are traditionally chemically synthesized from petroleum-derived feedstocks, represent a large class of chemicals with industrial significance. The microbial biosynthesis of aromatic compounds has been studied for decades, and varying yields have been achieved for different aromatic compounds. In this review, we describe the common problems associated with the microbial biosynthesis of diverse aromatic compounds and summarize the corresponding metabolic engineering strategies for resolving these problems. In addition, future perspectives on the microbial production of aromatic compounds are discussed.