Fig. 1From: Toward glycerol biorefinery: metabolic engineering for the production of biofuels and chemicals from glycerolMetabolic pathways of glycerol for the production of various products. Production of diols, amino acids, organic acids, and biofuels via the catabolic pathway of glycerol are illustrated with different colors: diols, blue; amino acids, green; organic acids, yellow; biofuels, orange. In some microorganisms, glycerol can be dehydrated to 3-hydroxypropionaldehyde (3-HPA) by glycerol dehydratase. 3-HPA can be converted to 1,3-propanediol by alcohol dehydrogenase or 3-hydroxypropionic acid by aldehyde dehydrogenase. Glycerol can also enter the central metabolic pathway via two routes: (1) glycerol kinase and glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; (2) glycerol dehydrogenase and dihydroxyacetone kinaseBack to article page