Getting pumped: Membrane efflux transporters for enhanced biomolecule production

Small molecule production in microbial hosts is limited by the accumulation of the product inside the cell. Efflux transporters show promise as a solution to removal of the often-toxic products. Recent advances in transporter identification through expression profiling, heterologous expression, and knockout studies have identified transporters capable of secreting compounds of biotechnological interest. In addition, engineering of well-studied transporters has shown that substrate specificity in these transporters is malleable. Future work in identification, engineering, and expression of small molecule exporters can be instrumental in expanding the biocatalysis portfolio.