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Liu X, Cui Z, Su T, Lu X, Hou J, Qi Q. Identification of genome integration sites for developing a CRISPR-based gene expression toolkit in Yarrowia lipolytica. Microb Biotechnol 2022; 15:2223-2234. [PMID: 35436041 PMCID: PMC9328735 DOI: 10.1111/1751-7915.14060] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2022] [Revised: 03/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022] Open
Abstract
With the rapid development of synthetic biology, the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica has become an attractive microorganism for chemical production. To better optimize and reroute metabolic pathways, we have expanded the CRISPR-based gene expression toolkit of Y. lipolytica. By sorting the integration sites associated with high expression, new neutral integration sites associated with high expression and high integration efficiency were identified. Diverse genetic components, including promoters and terminators, were also characterized to expand the expression range. We found that in addition to promoters, the newly characterized terminators exhibited large variations in gene expression. These genetic components and integration sites were then used to regulate genes involved in the lycopene biosynthesis pathway, and different levels of lycopene production were achieved. The CRISPR-based gene expression toolkit developed in this study will facilitate the genetic engineering of Y. lipolytica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiaoqin Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
| | - Zhiyong Cui
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
| | - Tianyuan Su
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
| | - Xuemei Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
| | - Jin Hou
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
| | - Qingsheng Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial TechnologyShandong UniversityQingdao266237China
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2
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Lopez C, Cao M, Yao Z, Shao Z. Revisiting the unique structure of autonomously replicating sequences in Yarrowia lipolytica and its role in pathway engineering. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2021; 105:5959-5972. [PMID: 34357429 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-021-11399-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2020] [Revised: 05/19/2021] [Accepted: 05/24/2021] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Production of industrially relevant compounds in microbial cell factories can employ either genomes or plasmids as an expression platform. Selection of plasmids as pathway carriers is advantageous for rapid demonstration but poses a challenge of stability. Yarrowia lipolytica has attracted great attention in the past decade for the biosynthesis of chemicals related to fatty acids at titers attractive to industry, and many genetic tools have been developed to explore its oleaginous potential. Our recent studies on the autonomously replicating sequences (ARSs) of nonconventional yeasts revealed that the ARSs from Y. lipolytica showcase a unique structure that includes a previously unannotated sequence (spacer) linking the origin of replication (ORI) and the centromeric (CEN) element and plays a critical role in modulating plasmid behavior. Maintaining a native 645-bp spacer yielded a 2.2-fold increase in gene expression and 1.7-fold higher plasmid stability compared to a more universally employed minimized ARS. Testing the modularity of the ARS sub-elements indicated that plasmid stability exhibits a pronounced cargo dependency. Instability caused both plasmid loss and intramolecular rearrangements. Altogether, our work clarifies the appropriate application of various ARSs for the scientific community and sheds light on a previously unexplored DNA element as a potential target for engineering Y. lipolytica.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carmen Lopez
- Interdepartmental Microbiology Program, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Mingfeng Cao
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL, 60801, USA.
- DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
| | - Zhanyi Yao
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA
| | - Zengyi Shao
- Interdepartmental Microbiology Program, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
- NSF Engineering Research Center for Biorenewable Chemicals, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
- DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1206 W. Gregory Drive, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA.
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
- The Ames Laboratory, Ames, IA, 50011, USA.
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3
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Abdel-Mawgoud AM, Stephanopoulos G. Improving CRISPR/Cas9-mediated genome editing efficiency in Yarrowia lipolytica using direct tRNA-sgRNA fusions. Metab Eng 2020; 62:106-115. [PMID: 32758536 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2020.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2020] [Revised: 07/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/20/2020] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Yarrowia lipolytica is an important oleaginous yeast currently used in the production of specialty chemicals and has a great potential for further applications in lipid biotechnology. Harnessing the full potential of Y. lipolytica is, however, limited by its inherent recalcitrance to genetic manipulation. In contrast to Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Y. lipolytica is poor in homology-mediated DNA repair and thus in homologous recombination, which limits site-specific gene editing in this yeast. Recently developed CRISPR/Cas9-based methods using tRNA-sgRNA fusions succeeded in editing some genomic loci in Y. lipolytica. Nonetheless, the majority of other tested loci either failed editing or editing was achieved but at very low efficiency using these methods. Using tools of secondary RNA structure prediction, we were able to improve the design of the tRNA-sgRNA fusions used for the expression of single guide RNA (sgRNA) in such methods. This resulted in high efficiency CRISPR/cas9 gene editing at chromosomal loci that failed gene editing or were edited at very low efficiencies with previous methods. In addition, we characterized the gene editing performance of our newly designed tRNA-sgRNA fusions for both chromosomal gene integration and deletion. As such, this study presents an efficient CRISPR/Cas9-mediated gene-editing tool for efficient genetic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica.
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Affiliation(s)
- A M Abdel-Mawgoud
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA; Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Laval University, 1045 Ave. de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada; Institute of Integrative Biology and Systems, Laval University, 1030 Ave. de la Médecine, Quebec, QC, G1V 0A6, Canada.
| | - G Stephanopoulos
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA.
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4
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Fatma Z, Schultz JC, Zhao H. Recent advances in domesticating non‐model microorganisms. Biotechnol Prog 2020; 36:e3008. [DOI: 10.1002/btpr.3008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/22/2020] [Revised: 04/14/2020] [Accepted: 04/18/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Zia Fatma
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
| | - J. Carl Schultz
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
| | - Huimin Zhao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
- Departments of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Bioengineering University of Illinois at Urbana‐Champaign Urbana Illinois USA
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5
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Understanding and Eliminating the Detrimental Effect of Thiamine Deficiency on the Oleaginous Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Appl Environ Microbiol 2020; 86:AEM.02299-19. [PMID: 31704686 DOI: 10.1128/aem.02299-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/05/2019] [Indexed: 01/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Thiamine is a vitamin that functions as a cofactor for key enzymes in carbon and energy metabolism in all living cells. While most plants, fungi, and bacteria can synthesize thiamine de novo, the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica cannot. In this study, we used proteomics together with physiological characterization to elucidate key metabolic processes influenced and regulated by thiamine availability and to identify the genetic basis of thiamine auxotrophy in Y. lipolytica Specifically, we found that thiamine depletion results in decreased protein abundance for the lipid biosynthesis pathway and energy metabolism (i.e., ATP synthase), leading to the negligible growth and poor sugar assimilation observed in our study. Using comparative genomics, we identified the missing 4-amino-5-hydroxymethyl-2-methylpyrimidine phosphate synthase (THI13) gene for the de novo thiamine biosynthesis in Y. lipolytica and discovered an exceptional promoter, P3, that exhibits strong activation and tight repression by low and high thiamine concentrations, respectively. Capitalizing on the strength of our thiamine-regulated promoter (P3) to express the missing gene from Saccharomyces cerevisiae (scTHI13), we engineered a thiamine-prototrophic Y. lipolytica strain. By comparing this engineered strain to the wild-type strain, we revealed the tight relationship between thiamine availability and lipid biosynthesis and demonstrated enhanced lipid production with thiamine supplementation in the engineered thiamine-prototrophic Y. lipolytica strain.IMPORTANCE Thiamine plays a crucial role as an essential cofactor for enzymes involved in carbon and energy metabolism in all living cells. Thiamine deficiency has detrimental consequences for cellular health. Yarrowia lipolytica, a nonconventional oleaginous yeast with broad biotechnological applications, is a native thiamine auxotroph whose affected cellular metabolism is not well understood. Therefore, Y. lipolytica is an ideal eukaryotic host for the study of thiamine metabolism, especially because mammalian cells are also thiamine auxotrophic and thiamine deficiency is implicated in several human diseases. This study elucidates the fundamental effects of thiamine deficiency on cellular metabolism in Y. lipolytica and identifies genes and novel thiamine-regulated elements that eliminate thiamine auxotrophy in Y. lipolytica Furthermore, the discovery of thiamine-regulated elements enables the development of thiamine biosensors with useful applications in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.
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Abdel-Mawgoud AM, Markham KA, Palmer CM, Liu N, Stephanopoulos G, Alper HS. Metabolic engineering in the host Yarrowia lipolytica. Metab Eng 2018; 50:192-208. [PMID: 30056205 DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2018.07.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 109] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2018] [Revised: 07/23/2018] [Accepted: 07/24/2018] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
The nonconventional, oleaginous yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica is rapidly emerging as a valuable host for the production of a variety of both lipid and nonlipid chemical products. While the unique genetics of this organism pose some challenges, many new metabolic engineering tools have emerged to facilitate improved genetic manipulation in this host. This review establishes a case for Y. lipolytica as a premier metabolic engineering host based on innate metabolic capacity, emerging synthetic tools, and engineering examples. The metabolism underlying the lipid accumulation phenotype of this yeast as well as high flux through acyl-CoA precursors and the TCA cycle provide a favorable metabolic environment for expression of relevant heterologous pathways. These properties allow Y. lipolytica to be successfully engineered for the production of both native and nonnative lipid, organic acid, sugar and acetyl-CoA derived products. Finally, this host has unique metabolic pathways enabling growth on a wide range of carbon sources, including waste products. The expansion of carbon sources, together with the improvement of tools as highlighted here, have allowed this nonconventional organism to act as a cellular factory for valuable chemicals and fuels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmad M Abdel-Mawgoud
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Kelly A Markham
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX 78712, United States
| | - Claire M Palmer
- Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2500 Speedway Avenue, Austin, TX 78712, United States
| | - Nian Liu
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States
| | - Gregory Stephanopoulos
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, United States.
| | - Hal S Alper
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX 78712, United States; Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2500 Speedway Avenue, Austin, TX 78712, United States.
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7
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Hanko EK, Denby CM, Sànchez i Nogué V, Lin W, Ramirez KJ, Singer CA, Beckham GT, Keasling JD. Engineering β-oxidation in Yarrowia lipolytica for methyl ketone production. Metab Eng 2018; 48:52-62. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2018.05.018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/12/2017] [Revised: 05/14/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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8
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Markham KA, Alper HS. Synthetic Biology Expands the Industrial Potential of Yarrowia lipolytica. Trends Biotechnol 2018; 36:1085-1095. [PMID: 29880228 DOI: 10.1016/j.tibtech.2018.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 80] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2018] [Revised: 05/15/2018] [Accepted: 05/16/2018] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
Abstract
The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is quickly emerging as the most popular non-conventional (i.e., non-model organism) yeast in the bioproduction field. With a high propensity for flux through tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle intermediates and biological precursors such as acetyl-CoA and malonyl-CoA, this host is especially well suited to meet our industrial chemical production needs. Recent progress in synthetic biology tool development has greatly enhanced our ability to rewire this organism, with advances in genetic component design, CRISPR technologies, and modular cloning strategies. In this review we investigate recent developments in metabolic engineering and describe how the new tools being developed help to realize the full industrial potential of this host. Finally, we conclude with our vision of the developments that will be necessary to enhance future engineering efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly A Markham
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 East Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78712, USA
| | - Hal S Alper
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 East Dean Keeton Street, Austin, TX 78712, USA; Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2500 Speedway Avenue, Austin, TX 78712, USA.
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9
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Holkenbrink C, Dam MI, Kildegaard KR, Beder J, Dahlin J, Doménech Belda D, Borodina I. EasyCloneYALI: CRISPR/Cas9-Based Synthetic Toolbox for Engineering of the Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. Biotechnol J 2018; 13:e1700543. [PMID: 29377615 DOI: 10.1002/biot.201700543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 122] [Impact Index Per Article: 20.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/05/2017] [Revised: 01/11/2018] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is an emerging host for production of fatty acid-derived chemicals. To enable rapid iterative metabolic engineering of this yeast, there is a need for well-characterized genetic parts and convenient and reliable methods for their incorporation into yeast. Here, the EasyCloneYALI genetic toolbox, which allows streamlined strain construction with high genome editing efficiencies in Y. lipolytica via the CRISPR/Cas9 technology is presented. The toolbox allows marker-free integration of gene expression vectors into characterized genome sites as well as marker-free deletion of genes with the help of CRISPR/Cas9. Genome editing efficiencies above 80% were achieved with transformation protocols using non-replicating DNA repair fragments (such as DNA oligos). Furthermore, the toolbox includes a set of integrative gene expression vectors with prototrophic markers conferring resistance to hygromycin and nourseothricin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carina Holkenbrink
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Marie I Dam
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Kanchana R Kildegaard
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Johannes Beder
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Jonathan Dahlin
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - David Doménech Belda
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Irina Borodina
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, DK-2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
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Yu AQ, Pratomo N, Ng TK, Ling H, Cho HS, Leong SSJ, Chang MW. Genetic Engineering of an Unconventional Yeast for Renewable Biofuel and Biochemical Production. J Vis Exp 2016:54371. [PMID: 27684280 PMCID: PMC5092062 DOI: 10.3791/54371] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Yarrowia lipolytica is a non-pathogenic, dimorphic and strictly aerobic yeast species. Owing to its distinctive physiological features and metabolic characteristics, this unconventional yeast is not only a good model for the study of the fundamental nature of fungal differentiation but is also a promising microbial platform for biochemical production and various biotechnological applications, which require extensive genetic manipulations. However, genetic manipulations of Y. lipolytica have been limited due to the lack of an efficient and stable genetic transformation system as well as very high rates of non-homologous recombination that can be mainly attributed to the KU70 gene. Here, we report an easy and rapid protocol for the efficient genetic transformation and for gene deletion in Y. lipolytica Po1g. First, a protocol for the efficient transformation of exogenous DNA into Y. lipolytica Po1g was established. Second, to achieve the enhanced double-crossover homologous recombination rate for further deletion of target genes, the KU70 gene was deleted by transforming a disruption cassette carrying 1 kb homology arms. Third, to demonstrate the enhanced gene deletion efficiency after deletion of the KU70 gene, we individually deleted 11 target genes encoding alcohol dehydrogenase and alcohol oxidase using the same procedures on the KU70 knockout platform strain. It was observed that the rate of precise homologous recombination increased substantially from less than 0.5% for deletion of the KU70 gene in Po1g to 33%-71% for the single gene deletion of the 11 target genes in Po1g KU70Δ. A replicative plasmid carrying the hygromycin B resistance marker and the Cre/LoxP system was constructed, and the selection marker gene in the yeast knockout strains was eventually removed by expression of Cre recombinase to facilitate multiple rounds of targeted genetic manipulations. The resulting single-gene deletion mutants have potential applications in biofuel and biochemical production.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ai-Qun Yu
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore
| | - Nina Pratomo
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore
| | - Tee-Kheang Ng
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore
| | - Hua Ling
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore
| | - Han-Saem Cho
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore
| | - Susanna Su Jan Leong
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore; Food Science and Chemical Engineering, Singapore Institute of Technology
| | - Matthew Wook Chang
- Department of Biochemistry, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore; NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation (SynCTI), Life Sciences Institute, National University of Singapore;
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Shabbir Hussain M, Gambill L, Smith S, Blenner MA. Engineering Promoter Architecture in Oleaginous Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. ACS Synth Biol 2016; 5:213-23. [PMID: 26635071 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.5b00100] [Citation(s) in RCA: 67] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Eukaryotic promoters have a complex architecture to control both the strength and timing of gene transcription spanning up to thousands of bases from the initiation site. This complexity makes rational fine-tuning of promoters in fungi difficult to predict; however, this very same complexity enables multiple possible strategies for engineering promoter strength. Here, we studied promoter architecture in the oleaginous yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica. While recent studies have focused on upstream activating sequences, we systematically examined various components common in fungal promoters. Here, we examine several promoter components including upstream activating sequences, proximal promoter sequences, core promoters, and the TATA box in autonomously replicating expression plasmids and integrated into the genome. Our findings show that promoter strength can be fine-tuned through the engineering of the TATA box sequence, core promoter, and upstream activating sequences. Additionally, we identified a previously unreported oleic acid responsive transcription enhancement in the XPR2 upstream activating sequences, which illustrates the complexity of fungal promoters. The promoters engineered here provide new genetic tools for metabolic engineering in Y. lipolytica and provide promoter engineering strategies that may be useful in engineering other non-model fungal systems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murtaza Shabbir Hussain
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and ‡Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Lauren Gambill
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and ‡Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Spencer Smith
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and ‡Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
| | - Mark A. Blenner
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering and ‡Department of Genetics and Biochemistry, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29634, United States
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12
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Ryu S, Hipp J, Trinh CT. Activating and Elucidating Metabolism of Complex Sugars in Yarrowia lipolytica. Appl Environ Microbiol 2016; 82:1334-1345. [PMID: 26682853 PMCID: PMC4751822 DOI: 10.1128/aem.03582-15] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/06/2015] [Accepted: 12/14/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is an industrially important host for production of organic acids, oleochemicals, lipids, and proteins with broad biotechnological applications. Albeit known for decades, the unique native metabolism of Y. lipolytica for using complex fermentable sugars, which are abundant in lignocellulosic biomass, is poorly understood. In this study, we activated and elucidated the native sugar metabolism in Y. lipolytica for cell growth on xylose and cellobiose as well as their mixtures with glucose through comprehensive metabolic and transcriptomic analyses. We identified 7 putative glucose-specific transporters, 16 putative xylose-specific transporters, and 4 putative cellobiose-specific transporters that are transcriptionally upregulated for growth on respective single sugars. Y. lipolytica is capable of using xylose as a carbon source, but xylose dehydrogenase is the key bottleneck of xylose assimilation and is transcriptionally repressed by glucose. Y. lipolytica has a set of 5 extracellular and 6 intracellular β-glucosidases and is capable of assimilating cellobiose via extra- and intracellular mechanisms, the latter being dominant for growth on cellobiose as a sole carbon source. Strikingly, Y. lipolytica exhibited enhanced sugar utilization for growth in mixed sugars, with strong carbon catabolite activation for growth on the mixture of xylose and cellobiose and with mild carbon catabolite repression of glucose on xylose and cellobiose. The results of this study shed light on fundamental understanding of the complex native sugar metabolism of Y. lipolytica and will help guide inverse metabolic engineering of Y. lipolytica for enhanced conversion of biomass-derived fermentable sugars to chemicals and fuels.
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Affiliation(s)
- Seunghyun Ryu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Julie Hipp
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
| | - Cong T Trinh
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- Bredesen Center for Interdisciplinary Research and Graduate Education, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
- University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA; Bioenergy Science Center (BESC), Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, USA
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13
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Chatterjee G, Sankaranarayanan SR, Guin K, Thattikota Y, Padmanabhan S, Siddharthan R, Sanyal K. Repeat-Associated Fission Yeast-Like Regional Centromeres in the Ascomycetous Budding Yeast Candida tropicalis. PLoS Genet 2016; 12:e1005839. [PMID: 26845548 PMCID: PMC4741521 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pgen.1005839] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/04/2015] [Accepted: 01/11/2016] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
The centromere, on which kinetochore proteins assemble, ensures precise chromosome segregation. Centromeres are largely specified by the histone H3 variant CENP-A (also known as Cse4 in yeasts). Structurally, centromere DNA sequences are highly diverse in nature. However, the evolutionary consequence of these structural diversities on de novo CENP-A chromatin formation remains elusive. Here, we report the identification of centromeres, as the binding sites of four evolutionarily conserved kinetochore proteins, in the human pathogenic budding yeast Candida tropicalis. Each of the seven centromeres comprises a 2 to 5 kb non-repetitive mid core flanked by 2 to 5 kb inverted repeats. The repeat-associated centromeres of C. tropicalis all share a high degree of sequence conservation with each other and are strikingly diverged from the unique and mostly non-repetitive centromeres of related Candida species--Candida albicans, Candida dubliniensis, and Candida lusitaniae. Using a plasmid-based assay, we further demonstrate that pericentric inverted repeats and the underlying DNA sequence provide a structural determinant in CENP-A recruitment in C. tropicalis, as opposed to epigenetically regulated CENP-A loading at centromeres in C. albicans. Thus, the centromere structure and its influence on de novo CENP-A recruitment has been significantly rewired in closely related Candida species. Strikingly, the centromere structural properties along with role of pericentric repeats in de novo CENP-A loading in C. tropicalis are more reminiscent to those of the distantly related fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Taken together, we demonstrate, for the first time, fission yeast-like repeat-associated centromeres in an ascomycetous budding yeast.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gautam Chatterjee
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
| | - Sundar Ram Sankaranarayanan
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
| | - Krishnendu Guin
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
| | - Yogitha Thattikota
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
| | - Sreedevi Padmanabhan
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
| | - Rahul Siddharthan
- The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, C.I.T. Campus, Taramani, Chennai, India
| | - Kaustuv Sanyal
- Molecular Mycology Laboratory, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Jakkur, Bangalore, India
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14
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Zhang S, Skerker JM, Rutter CD, Maurer MJ, Arkin AP, Rao CV. Engineering Rhodosporidium toruloides for increased lipid production. Biotechnol Bioeng 2015; 113:1056-66. [PMID: 26479039 DOI: 10.1002/bit.25864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 120] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/16/2015] [Revised: 10/07/2015] [Accepted: 10/13/2015] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Oleaginous yeast are promising organisms for the production of lipid-based chemicals and fuels from simple sugars. In this work, we explored Rhodosporidium toruloides for the production of lipid-based products. This oleaginous yeast natively produces lipids at high titers and can grow on glucose and xylose. As a first step, we sequenced the genomes of two strains, IFO0880, and IFO0559, and generated draft assemblies and annotations. We then used this information to engineer two R. toruloides strains for increased lipid production by over-expressing the native acetyl-CoA carboxylase and diacylglycerol acyltransferase genes using Agrobacterium tumefaciens mediated transformation. Our best strain, derived from IFO0880, was able to produce 16.4 ± 1.1 g/L lipid from 70 g/L glucose and 9.5 ± 1.3 g/L lipid from 70 g/L xylose in shake-flask experiments. This work represents one of the first examples of metabolic engineering in R. toruloides and establishes this yeast as a new platform for production of fatty-acid derived products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shuyan Zhang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Jeffrey M Skerker
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, California
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
| | - Charles D Rutter
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois
| | - Matthew J Maurer
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, California
| | - Adam P Arkin
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, California.
- Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California.
| | - Christopher V Rao
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois.
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15
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Liu L, Pan A, Spofford C, Zhou N, Alper HS. An evolutionary metabolic engineering approach for enhancing lipogenesis in Yarrowia lipolytica. Metab Eng 2015; 29:36-45. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2015.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 97] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/29/2014] [Revised: 01/27/2015] [Accepted: 02/16/2015] [Indexed: 12/29/2022]
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16
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Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of cellulose in ionic liquid for efficient production of α-ketoglutaric acid by Yarrowia lipolytica. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2015; 99:4237-44. [PMID: 25783627 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-015-6521-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2015] [Revised: 03/01/2015] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Ionic liquids (ILs) are benign solvents that are highly effective for biomass pretreatment. However, their applications for scale-up biorefinery are limited due to multiple expensive IL recovery and separation steps that are required. To overcome this limitation, it is very critical to develop a compatible enzymatic and microbial biocatalyst system to carry the simultaneous saccharification and fermentation in IL environments (SSF-IL). While enzymatic biocatalysts have been demonstrated to be compatible with various IL environments, it is challenging to develop microbial biocatalysts that can thrive and perform efficient biotransformation under the same conditions (pH and temperature). In this study, we harnessed the robust metabolism of Yarrowia lipolytica as a microbial platform highly compatible with the IL environments such as 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium acetate ([EMIM][OAc]). We optimized the enzymatic and microbial biocatalyst system using commercial cellulases and demonstrated the capability of Y. lipolytica to convert cellulose into high-value organics such as α-ketoglutaric acid (KGA) in the SSF-IL process at relatively low temperature 28 °C and high pH 6.3. We showed that SSF-IL not only enhanced the enzymatic saccharification but also produced KGA up to 92% of the maximum theoretical yield.
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17
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Lane S, Zhang S, Wei N, Rao C, Jin YS. Development and physiological characterization of cellobiose-consuming Yarrowia lipolytica. Biotechnol Bioeng 2015; 112:1012-22. [PMID: 25421388 DOI: 10.1002/bit.25499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2014] [Revised: 10/20/2014] [Accepted: 11/17/2014] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Yarrowia lipolytica is a promising production host for a wide range of molecules, but limited sugar consumption abilities prevent utilization of an abundant source of renewable feedstocks. In this study we created a Y. lipolytica strain capable of utilizing cellobiose as a sole carbon source by using endogenous promoters to express the cellodextrin transporter cdt-1 and intracellular β-glucosidase gh1-1 from Neurospora crassa. The engineered strain was also capable of simultaneous co-consumption of glucose and cellobiose. Although cellobiose was consumed slower than glucose when engineered strains were cultured with excess nitrogen, culturing with limited nitrogen led to cellobiose consumption rates comparable to those of glucose. Under limited nitrogen conditions, the engineered strain produced citric acid as a major product and we observed greater citric acid yields from cellobiose (0.37 g/g) than glucose (0.28 g/g). Culturing with a sole carbon source of either glucose or cellobiose induced additional differences on cell physiology and metabolism and a link is suggested to evasion of glucose-sensing mechanisms through intracellular creation and consumption of glucose. We ultimately applied this cellobiose-utilization system to produce citric acid from bioconversion of crystalline cellulose through simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF).
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Affiliation(s)
- Stephan Lane
- Institute for Genomic Biology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801; Energy Biosciences Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinios, 61801; Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois, 61801
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18
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Liu L, Otoupal P, Pan A, Alper HS. Increasing expression level and copy number of aYarrowia lipolyticaplasmid through regulated centromere function. FEMS Yeast Res 2014; 14:1124-7. [DOI: 10.1111/1567-1364.12201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/29/2014] [Revised: 08/19/2014] [Accepted: 08/21/2014] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Leqian Liu
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; The University of Texas at Austin; Austin TX USA
| | - Peter Otoupal
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; The University of Texas at Austin; Austin TX USA
| | - Anny Pan
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; The University of Texas at Austin; Austin TX USA
| | - Hal S. Alper
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering; The University of Texas at Austin; Austin TX USA
- Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology; The University of Texas at Austin; Austin TX USA
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19
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Blazeck J, Hill A, Liu L, Knight R, Miller J, Pan A, Otoupal P, Alper HS. Harnessing Yarrowia lipolytica lipogenesis to create a platform for lipid and biofuel production. Nat Commun 2014; 5:3131. [PMID: 24445655 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms4131] [Citation(s) in RCA: 386] [Impact Index Per Article: 38.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/15/2013] [Accepted: 12/17/2013] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Economic feasibility of biosynthetic fuel and chemical production hinges upon harnessing metabolism to achieve high titre and yield. Here we report a thorough genotypic and phenotypic optimization of an oleaginous organism to create a strain with significant lipogenesis capability. Specifically, we rewire Yarrowia lipolytica's native metabolism for superior de novo lipogenesis by coupling combinatorial multiplexing of lipogenesis targets with phenotypic induction. We further complete direct conversion of lipid content into biodiesel. Tri-level metabolic control results in saturated cells containing upwards of 90% lipid content and titres exceeding 25 g l(-1) lipids, which represents a 60-fold improvement over parental strain and conditions. Through this rewiring effort, we advance fundamental understanding of lipogenesis, demonstrate non-canonical environmental and intracellular stimuli and uncouple lipogenesis from nitrogen starvation. The high titres and carbon-source independent nature of this lipogenesis in Y. lipolytica highlight the potential of this organism as a platform for efficient oleochemical production.
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Affiliation(s)
- John Blazeck
- 1] McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA [2]
| | - Andrew Hill
- 1] McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA [2]
| | - Leqian Liu
- 1] McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA [2]
| | - Rebecca Knight
- Section of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 1 University Station Stop A6700, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Jarrett Miller
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Anny Pan
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Peter Otoupal
- McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
| | - Hal S Alper
- 1] McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, Texas 78712, USA [2] Institute for Cellular and Molecular Biology, The University of Texas at Austin, 2500 Speedway Avenue, Austin, Texas 78712, USA
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20
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Generalizing a hybrid synthetic promoter approach in Yarrowia lipolytica. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 2012; 97:3037-52. [PMID: 23053080 DOI: 10.1007/s00253-012-4421-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 78] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/23/2012] [Revised: 08/03/2012] [Accepted: 09/06/2012] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
Abstract
Both varied and strong promoters are essential for metabolic and pathway engineering applications in any host organism. To enable this capacity, here we demonstrate a generalizable method for the de novo construction of strong, synthetic hybrid promoter libraries. Specifically, we demonstrate how promoter truncation and fragment dissection analysis can be utilized to identify both novel upstream activating sequences (UAS) and core promoters-the two components required to generate hybrid promoters. As a base case, the native TEF promoter in Yarrowia lipolytica was examined to identify putative UAS elements that serve as modular synthetic transcriptional activators. Resulting synthetic promoters containing a core promoter region activated by between one and twelve tandem repeats of the newly isolated, 230 nucleotide UASTEF#2 element showed promoter strengths 3- to 4.5-fold times the native TEF promoter. Further analysis through transcription factor binding site abrogation revealed the GCR1p binding site to be necessary for complete UASTEF#2 function. These various promoters were tested for function in a variety of carbon sources. Finally, by combining disparate UAS elements (in this case, UASTEF and UAS1B), we developed a high-strength promoter with for Y. lipolytica with an expression level of nearly sevenfold higher than that of the strong, constitutive TEF promoter. Thus, the general strategy described here enables the efficient, de novo construction of synthetic promoters to both increase native expression capacity and to produce libraries for tunable gene expression.
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21
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Tuning gene expression in Yarrowia lipolytica by a hybrid promoter approach. Appl Environ Microbiol 2011; 77:7905-14. [PMID: 21926196 DOI: 10.1128/aem.05763-11] [Citation(s) in RCA: 234] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
The development of strong and tunable promoter elements is necessary to enable metabolic and pathway engineering applications for any host organism. Here, we have expanded and generalized a hybrid promoter approach to produce libraries of high-expressing, tunable promoters in the nonconventional yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. These synthetic promoters are comprised of two modular components: the enhancer element and the core promoter element. By exploiting this basic promoter architecture, we have overcome native expression limitations and provided a strategy for both increasing the native promoter capacity and producing libraries for tunable gene expression in a cellular system with ill-defined genetic tools. In doing so, this work has created the strongest promoters ever reported for Y. lipolytica. Furthermore, we have characterized these promoters at the single-cell level through the use of a developed fluorescence-based assay as well as at the transcriptional and whole-cell levels. The resulting promoter libraries exhibited a range of more than 400-fold in terms of mRNA levels, and the strongest promoters in this set had 8-fold-higher fluorescence levels than those of typically used endogenous promoters. These results suggest that promoters in Y. lipolytica are enhancer limited and that this limitation can be partially or fully alleviated through the addition of tandem copies of upstream activation sequences (UASs). Finally, this work illustrates that tandem copies of UAS regions can serve as synthetic transcriptional amplifiers that may be generically used to increase the expression levels of promoters.
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22
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Yamane T, Ogawa T, Matsuoka M. Derivation of consensus sequence for protein binding site in Yarrowia lipolytica centromere. J Biosci Bioeng 2008; 105:671-4. [DOI: 10.1263/jbb.105.671] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/18/2008] [Accepted: 02/20/2008] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
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23
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Current awareness on yeast. Yeast 2006. [DOI: 10.1002/yea.1617] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
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