Metabolic engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for production of ginsenosides

De novo production of the plant-derived alkaloid strictosidine in yeast

The monoterpene indole alkaloids are a large group of plant-derived specialized metabolites, many of which have valuable pharmaceutical or biological activity. There are ∼3,000 monoterpene indole alkaloids produced by thousands of plant species in numerous families. The diverse chemical structures found in this metabolite class originate from strictosidine, which is the last common biosynthetic intermediate for all monoterpene indole alkaloid enzymatic pathways. Reconstitution of biosynthetic pathways in a heterologous host is a promising strategy for rapid and inexpensive production of complex molecules that are found in plants. Here, we demonstrate how strictosidine can be produced de novo in a Saccharomyces cerevisiae host from 14 known monoterpene indole alkaloid pathway genes, along with an additional seven genes and three gene deletions that enhance secondary metabolism. This system provides an important resource for developing the production of more complex plant-derived alkaloids, engineering of nonnatural derivatives, identification of bottlenecks in monoterpene indole alkaloid biosynthesis, and discovery of new pathway genes in a convenient yeast host.

Evaluation of the bioactive properties of avenanthramide analogs produced in recombinant yeast

Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been proven to be a valuable tool for the expression of plant metabolic pathways. By engineering a S. cerevisiae strain with two plant genes (4cl-2 from tobacco and hct from globe artichoke) we previously set up a system for the production of two novel phenolic compounds, N-(E)-p-coumaroyl-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (Yeast avenanthramide I, Yav I) and N-(E)-caffeoyl-3-hydroxyanthranilic acid (Yeast avenanthramide II, Yav II). These compounds have a structural similarity with a class of bioactive oat compounds called avenanthramides. By developing a fermentation process for the engineered S. cerevisiae strain, we obtained a high-yield production of Yav I and Yav II. To examine the biological relevance of these compounds, we tested their potential antioxidant and antiproliferative properties upon treatment of widely used cell models, including immortalized mouse embryonic fibroblast cell lines and HeLa cancer cells. The outcomes of our experiments showed that both Yav I and Yav II enter the cell and trigger a significant up-regulation of master regulators of cell antioxidant responses, including the major antioxidant protein SOD2 and its transcriptional regulator FoxO1 as well as the down-regulation of Cyclin D1. Intriguingly, these effects were also demonstrated in cellular models of the human genetic disease Cerebral Cavernous Malformation, suggesting that the novel phenolic compounds Yav I and Yav II are endowed with bioactive properties relevant to biomedical applications. Taken together, our data demonstrate the feasibility of biotechnological production of yeast avenanthramides and underline a biologically relevant antioxidant activity of these molecules.

Glycosyltransferases: mechanisms and applications in natural product development

Glycosylation reactions mainly catalyzed by glycosyltransferases (Gts) occur almost everywhere in the biosphere, and always play crucial roles in vital processes.

Microbial biosynthesis of medicinally important plant secondary metabolites

Secondary metabolites derived from plants are a valuable source of pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and cosmetics. To harness the potential of these natural products, reliable methods must be developed for their rapid and sustainable resupply. Microbial production of plant secondary metabolites through the heterologous expression of plant biosynthetic genes represents one such solution. This highlight focuses on recent advances in the microbial biosynthesis of plant secondary metabolites including terpenoids, flavonoids, and alkaloids as well as providing a brief insight into the current limitations and future prospects.

Insight into yeast: A study model of lipid metabolism and terpenoid biosynthesis

With the development of transcriptomics, metabolomics, proteomics, and mathematical modeling, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is recently considered as a model studying strain by biologists who try to reveal the mystery of microorganic metabolism or develop heterologous pharmaceutical and economic products. Among S. cerevisiae metabolic research, lipid metabolism always attracts great interest because of its dominant role in cell physiology. Related researchers have developed multiple functions from cell membrane component such as adjustment to changing environment and impact on protein folding. Nowadays, many common human diseases such as diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's disease, obesity, and atherosclerosis are related to lipid metabolism, which makes the study of lipids a desperate need. In addition to lipid metabolism, the study of the native mevalonic acid (MVA) pathway in S. cerevisiae has increased exponentially because of its huge potential to produce economically important products terpenoids. With the progress of technology in gene engineering and metabolic engineering, more and more biosynthetic pathways will be developed and put into industrial application.

Heterologous production of plant-derived isoprenoid products in microbes and the application of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology

The value associated with plant-derived products has spurred efforts to engineer new production routes. One such option is heterologous biosynthesis which requires reconstitution of a biosynthetic pathway in a host that provides both innate and developed cellular advantages relative to the native producer. This review will summarize success to date in heterologously producing plant-derived isoprenoid products when using hosts such as E. coli and yeast. The article will also address the significant challenges that face such efforts, the approaches that have been used to overcome obstacles, and the tools of metabolic engineering and synthetic biology being applied both in the course of establishing heterologous biosynthesis and optimizing final production metrics.

Cytochrome P450-mediated metabolic engineering: current progress and future challenges

Cytochromes P450 catalyze a broad range of regiospecific, stereospecific and irreversible steps in the biosynthetic routes of plant natural metabolites with important applications in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, fragrance and flavour, or polymer industries. They are consequently essential drivers for the engineered bioproduction of such compounds. Two ground-breaking developments of commercial products driven by the engineering of P450s are the antimalarial drug precursor artemisinic acid and blue roses or carnations. Tedious optimizations were required to generate marketable products. Hurdles encountered in P450 engineering and their potential solutions are summarized here. Together with recent technical developments and novel approaches to metabolic engineering, the lessons from this pioneering work should considerably boost exploitation of the amazing P450 toolkit emerging from accelerated sequencing of plant genomes.

Producing aglycons of ginsenosides in bakers' yeast

Ginsenosides are the primary bioactive components of ginseng, which is a popular medicinal plant that exhibits diverse pharmacological activities. Protopanaxadiol, protopanaxatriol and oleanolic acid are three basic aglycons of ginsenosides. Producing aglycons of ginsenosides in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was realized in this work and provides an alternative route compared to traditional extraction methods. Synthetic pathways of these three aglycons were constructed in S. cerevisiae by introducing β-amyrin synthase, oleanolic acid synthase, dammarenediol-II synthase, protopanaxadiol synthase, protopanaxatriol synthase and NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase from different plants. In addition, a truncated 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-CoA reductase, squalene synthase and 2,3-oxidosqualene synthase genes were overexpressed to increase the precursor supply for improving aglycon production. Strain GY-1 was obtained, which produced 17.2 mg/L protopanaxadiol, 15.9 mg/L protopanaxatriol and 21.4 mg/L oleanolic acid. The yeast strains engineered in this work can serve as the basis for creating an alternative way for producing ginsenosides in place of extractions from plant sources.

Enabling technologies to advance microbial isoprenoid production

Microbial production of isoprenoids provides an attractive alternative to biomass extraction and chemical synthesis. Although widespread research aims for isoprenoid biosynthesis, it is still in its infancy in terms of delivering commercial products. Large barriers remain in realizing a cost-competitive process, for example, developing an optimal microbial cell factory. Here, we summarize the many tools and methods that have been developed in the metabolic engineering of isoprenoid production, with the advent of systems biology and synthetic biology, and discuss how these technologies advance to accelerate the design-build-test engineering cycle to obtain optimum microbial systems. It is anticipated that innovative combinations of new and existing technologies will continue to emerge, which will enable further development of microbial cell factories for commercial isoprenoid production.