An engineered yeast efficiently secreting penicillin

Dual-Regulation in Peroxisome and Cytoplasm toward Efficient Limonene Biosynthesis with Rhodotorula toruloides

Rhodotorula toruloides is a potential workhorse for production of various value-added chemicals including terpenoids, oleo-chemicals, and enzymes from low-cost feedstocks. However, the limited genetic toolbox is hindering its metabolic engineering. In the present study, four type I and one novel type II peroxisomal targeting signal (PTS1/PTS2) were characterized and employed for limonene production for the first time in R. toruloides. The implant of the biosynthesis pathway into the peroxisome led to 111.5 mg/L limonene in a shake flask culture. The limonene titer was further boosted to 1.05 g/L upon dual-metabolic regulation in the cytoplasm and peroxisome, which included employing the acetoacetyl-CoA synthase NphT7, adding an additional copy of native ATP-dependent citrate lyase, etc. The final yield was 0.053 g/g glucose, which was the highest ever reported. The newly characterized PTSs should contribute to the expansion of genetic toolboxes forR. toruloides. The results demonstrated that R. toruloides could be explored for efficient production of terpenoids.

Characterization and engineering of peroxisome targeting sequences for compartmentalization engineering in Pichia pastoris

Peroxisomal compartmentalization has emerged as a highly promising strategy for reconstituting intricate metabolic pathways. In recent years, significant progress has been made in the peroxisomes through harnessing precursor pools, circumventing metabolic crosstalk, and minimizing the cytotoxicity of exogenous pathways. However, it is important to note that in methylotrophic yeasts (e.g. Pichia pastoris), the abundance and protein composition of peroxisomes are highly variable, particularly when peroxisome proliferation is induced by specific carbon sources. The intricate subcellular localization of native proteins, the variability of peroxisomal metabolic pathways, and the lack of systematic characterization of peroxisome targeting signals have limited the applications of peroxisomal compartmentalization in P. pastoris. Accordingly, this study established a high-throughput screening method based on β-carotene biosynthetic pathway to evaluate the targeting efficiency of PTS1s (Peroxisome Targeting Signal Type 1) in P. pastoris. First, 25 putative endogenous PTS1s were characterized and 3 PTS1s with high targeting efficiency were identified. Then, directed evolution of PTS1s was performed by constructing two PTS1 mutant libraries, and a total of 51 PTS1s (29 classical and 22 noncanonical PTS1s) with presumably higher peroxisomal targeting efficiency were identified, part of which were further characterized via confocal microscope. Finally, the newly identified PTS1s were employed for peroxisomal compartmentalization of the geraniol biosynthetic pathway, resulting in more than 30% increase in the titer of monoterpene compared with when the pathway was localized to the cytosol. The present study expands the synthetic biology toolkit and lays a solid foundation for peroxisomal compartmentalization in P. pastoris.

Peroxisome-based metabolic engineering for biomanufacturing and agriculture

Subcellular compartmentalization of metabolic pathways plays a crucial role in metabolic engineering. The peroxisome has emerged as a highly valuable and promising compartment for organelle engineering, particularly in the fields of biological manufacturing and agriculture. In this review, we summarize the remarkable achievements in peroxisome engineering in yeast, the industrially popular biomanufacturing chassis host, to produce various biocompounds. We also review progress in plant peroxisome engineering, a field that has already exhibited high potential in both biomanufacturing and agriculture. Moreover, we outline various experimentally validated strategies to improve the efficiency of engineered pathways in peroxisomes, as well as prospects of peroxisome engineering.

Lignocellulosic biomass-based glycoconjugates for diverse biotechnological applications

Glycoconjugates are the ubiquitous components of mammalian cells, mainly synthesized by covalent bonds of carbohydrates to other biomolecules such as proteins and lipids, with a wide range of potential applications in novel vaccines, therapeutic peptides and antibodies (Ab). Considering the emerging developments in glycoscience, renewable production of glycoconjugates is of importance and lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) is a potential source of carbohydrates to produce synthetic glycoconjugates in a sustainable pathway. In this review, recent advances in glycobiology aiming on glycoconjugates production is presented together with the recent and cutting-edge advances in the therapeutic properties and application of glycoconjugates, including therapeutic glycoproteins, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), and nutraceuticals, emphasizing the integral role of glycosylation in their function and efficacy. Special emphasis is given towards the potential exploration of carbon neutral feedstocks, in which LCB has an emerging role. Techniques for extraction and recovery of mono- and oligosaccharides from LCB are critically discussed and influence of the heterogeneous nature of the feedstocks and different methods for recovery of these sugars in the development of the customized glycoconjugates is explored. Although reports on the use of LCB for the production of glycoconjugates are scarce, this review sets clear that the potential of LCB as a source for the production of valuable glycoconjugates cannot be underestimated and encourages that future research should focus on refining the existing methodologies and exploring new approaches to fully realize the potential of LCB in glycoconjugate production.

Efficient production of bacterial antibiotics aminoriboflavin and roseoflavin in eukaryotic microorganisms, yeasts

BACKGROUND

Actinomycetes Streptomyces davaonensis and Streptomyces cinnabarinus synthesize a promising broad-spectrum antibiotic roseoflavin, with its synthesis starting from flavin mononucleotide and proceeding through an immediate precursor, aminoriboflavin, that also has antibiotic properties. Roseoflavin accumulation by the natural producers is rather low, whereas aminoriboflavin accumulation is negligible. Yeasts have many advantages as biotechnological producers relative to bacteria, however, no recombinant producers of bacterial antibiotics in yeasts are known.

RESULTS

Roseoflavin biosynthesis genes have been expressed in riboflavin- or FMN-overproducing yeast strains of Candida famata and Komagataella phaffii. Both these strains accumulated aminoriboflavin, whereas only the latter produced roseoflavin. Aminoriboflavin isolated from the culture liquid of C. famata strain inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus (including MRSA) and Listeria monocytogenes. Maximal accumulation of aminoriboflavin in shake-flasks reached 1.5 mg L- 1 (C. famata), and that of roseoflavin was 5 mg L- 1 (K. phaffii). Accumulation of aminoriboflavin and roseoflavin by K. phaffii recombinant strain in a bioreactor reached 22 and 130 mg L- 1, respectively. For comparison, recombinant strains of the native bacterial producer S. davaonensis accumulated near one-order less of roseoflavin while no recombinant producers of aminoriboflavin was reported at all.

CONCLUSIONS

Yeast recombinant producers of bacterial antibiotics aminoriboflavin and roseoflavin were constructed and evaluated.

Metabolic engineering of non-conventional yeasts for construction of the advanced producers of biofuels and high-value chemicals

Non-conventional yeasts, i.e. yeasts different from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, represent heterogenous group of unicellular fungi consisting of near 1500 species. Some of these species have interesting and sometimes unique properties like ability to grow on methanol, n-alkanes, ferment pentose sugars xylose and l-arabinose, grow at high temperatures (50°С and more), overproduce riboflavin (vitamin B2) and others. These unique properties are important for development of basic science; moreover, some of them possess also significant applied interest for elaboration of new biotechnologies. Current paper represents review of the recent own results and of those of other authors in the field of non-conventional yeast study for construction of the advanced producers of biofuels (ethanol, isobutanol) from lignocellulosic sugars glucose and xylose or crude glycerol (Ogataea polymorpha, Magnusiomyces magnusii) and vitamin B2 (riboflavin) from glucose and cheese whey (Candida famata).

Unlocking the access to oxidized coenzyme A via a single-step green membrane-based purification

A new membrane-based strategy to purify oxidized coenzyme A ((CoAS)₂) from adenosine triphosphate (ATP), adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and adenosine monophosphate (AMP) has been developed. Commercially available membranes were screened and studied (permeate flux and overall compounds retention) which allowed the identification of one efficient membrane (GK from Suez Water Technologies & Solutions). Different total compounds concentrations solutions were used in the system in order to find the following working conditions: 4 bars with a total compounds solution of 5.19 g L⁻¹. Applying these conditions to a dia-filtration set-up allowed us to reach 68% pure (CoAS)₂ in 4.8 diafiltration volumes (DV) and a 95% (CoAS)₂ purity can be predicted in 8.5 DV. A comparative study of green metrics—i.e. process mass index (PMI)—of the classic chromatography vs the membrane-based one demonstrated the great advantages of the latter in terms of sustainability. This strategy unlocks the access to the essential and central cofactor that is coenzyme A.

Organelle Engineering in Yeast: Enhanced Production of Protopanaxadiol through Manipulation of Peroxisome Proliferation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Isoprenoids, which are natural compounds with diverse structures, possess several biological activities that are beneficial to humans. A major consideration in isoprenoid production in microbial hosts is that the accumulation of biosynthesized isoprenoid within intracellular membranes may impede balanced cell growth, which may consequently reduce the desired yield of the target isoprenoid. As a strategy to overcome this suggested limitation, we selected peroxisome membranes as depots for the additional storage of biosynthesized isoprenoids to facilitate increased isoprenoid production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. To maximize the peroxisome membrane storage capacity of S.cerevisiae, the copy number and size of peroxisomes were increased through genetic engineering of the expression of three peroxisome biogenesis-related peroxins (Pex11p, Pex34p, and Atg36p). The genetically enlarged and high copied peroxisomes in S.cerevisiae were stably maintained under a bioreactor fermentation condition. The peroxisome-engineered S.cerevisiae strains were then utilized as host strains for metabolic engineering of heterologous protopanaxadiol pathway. The yields of protopanaxadiol from the engineered peroxisome strains were ca 78% higher than those of the parent strain, which strongly supports the rationale for harnessing the storage capacity of the peroxisome membrane to accommodate the biosynthesized compounds. Consequently, this study presents in-depth knowledge on peroxisome biogenesis engineering in S.cerevisiae and could serve as basic information for improvement in ginsenosides production and as a potential platform to be utilized for other isoprenoids.

Developing fungal heterologous expression platforms to explore and improve the production of natural products from fungal biodiversity

Natural products from fungi represent an important source of biologically active metabolites notably for therapeutic agent development. Genome sequencing revealed that the number of biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) in fungi is much larger than expected. Unfortunately, most of them are silent or barely expressed under laboratory culture conditions. Moreover, many fungi in nature are uncultivable or cannot be genetically manipulated, restricting the extraction and identification of bioactive metabolites from these species. Rapid exploration of the tremendous number of cryptic fungal BGCs necessitates the development of heterologous expression platforms, which will facilitate the efficient production of natural products in fungal cell factories. Host selection, BGC assembly methods, promoters used for heterologous gene expression, metabolic engineering strategies and compartmentalization of biosynthetic pathways are key aspects for consideration to develop such a microbial platform. In the present review, we summarize current progress on the above challenges to promote research effort in the relevant fields.

Microbial production of small peptide: pathway engineering and synthetic biology

Small peptides are a group of natural products with low molecular weights and complex structures. The diverse structures of small peptides endow them with broad bioactivities and suggest their potential therapeutic use in the medical field. The remaining challenge is methods to address the main limitations, namely (i) the low amount of available small peptides from natural sources, and (ii) complex processes required for traditional chemical synthesis. Therefore, harnessing microbial cells as workhorse appears to be a promising approach to synthesize these bioactive peptides. As an emerging engineering technology, synthetic biology aims to create standard, well-characterized and controllable synthetic systems for the biosynthesis of natural products. In this review, we describe the recent developments in the microbial production of small peptides. More importantly, synthetic biology approaches are considered for the production of small peptides, with an emphasis on chassis cells, the evolution of biosynthetic pathways, strain improvements and fermentation.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae as host for the recombinant production of polyketides and nonribosomal peptides

As a robust, fast growing and genetically tractable organism, the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the most widely used hosts in biotechnology. Its applications range from the manufacturing of vaccines and hormones to bulk chemicals and biofuels. In recent years, major efforts have been undertaken to expand this portfolio to include structurally complex natural products, such as polyketides and nonribosomally synthesized peptides. These compounds often have useful pharmacological properties, which make them valuable drugs for the treatment of infectious diseases, cancer, or autoimmune disorders. In nature, polyketides and nonribosomal peptides are generated by consecutive condensation reactions of short chain acyl-CoAs or amino acids, respectively, with the substrates and reaction intermediates being bound to large, multidomain enzymes. For the reconstitution of these multistep catalytic processes, the enzymatic assembly lines need to be functionally expressed and the required substrates must be supplied in reasonable quantities. Furthermore, the production hosts need to be protected from the toxicity of the biosynthetic products. In this review, we will summarize and evaluate the status quo regarding the heterologous production of polyketides and nonribosomal peptides in S. cerevisiae. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, prerequisites for a successful pathway reconstitution could be deduced, as well as recurring bottlenecks in this microbial host.

Engineering yeast subcellular compartments for increased production of the lipophilic natural products ginsenosides

Eukaryotic yeasts have a variety of subcellular compartments and are ideal platform strains for the construction of complex heterologous natural product biosynthesis pathways. Improving the synthesis efficiency of microbial cell factories through the utilization and modification of subcellular compartments by synthetic biology has good application prospects. Here, we used the yeast PLN1 protein to target the normally endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-localized cytochrome P450 enzyme protopanaxadiol (PPD) synthase (PPDS) to lipid droplets (LDs), which are the storage organelles of the PPDS substrate dammarenediol-II (DD). The efficiency of converting DD to PPD was significantly increased by 394%, and the conversion rate of DD increased from 17.4% to 86.0%. Furthermore, increasing the volume of LDs can significantly enhance the production of DD and its derivatives, but the change in the ratio of the volume and surface area of LDs decreased the conversion efficiency of DD to PPD. Additionally, the biosynthetic pathways of the PPD-type saponin ginsenoside compound K (CK) was reconstituted in a PPD-producing chassis strain, and CK production reached 21.8 mg/L/OD, 4.4-fold higher compared to the native ER-expression strategy. Next, we enhanced the expression of the Pn3-29 gene module to further reduce the accumulation of PPD and increase the production of CK to 41.3 mg/L/OD. Finally, the CK titer of the resulting strain reached 5 g/L in 5 L fed-batch fermentations. This study provides a new strategy for engineering yeast to produce complex natural products.

Recent advances in systems and synthetic biology approaches for developing novel cell-factories in non-conventional yeasts

Microbial bioproduction of chemicals, proteins, and primary metabolites from cheap carbon sources is currently an advancing area in industrial research. The model yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, is a well-established biorefinery host that has been used extensively for commercial manufacturing of bioethanol from myriad carbon sources. However, its Crabtree-positive nature often limits the use of this organism for the biosynthesis of commercial molecules that do not belong in the fermentative pathway. To avoid extensive strain engineering of S. cerevisiae for the production of metabolites other than ethanol, non-conventional yeasts can be selected as hosts based on their natural capacity to produce desired commodity chemicals. Non-conventional yeasts like Kluyveromyces marxianus, K. lactis, Yarrowia lipolytica, Pichia pastoris, Scheffersomyces stipitis, Hansenula polymorpha, and Rhodotorula toruloides have been considered as potential industrial eukaryotic hosts owing to their desirable phenotypes such as thermotolerance, assimilation of a wide range of carbon sources, as well as ability to secrete high titers of protein and lipid. However, the advanced metabolic engineering efforts in these organisms are still lacking due to the limited availability of systems and synthetic biology methods like in silico models, well-characterised genetic parts, and optimized genome engineering tools. This review provides an insight into the recent advances and challenges of systems and synthetic biology as well as metabolic engineering endeavours towards the commercial usage of non-conventional yeasts. Particularly, the approaches in emerging non-conventional yeasts for the production of enzymes, therapeutic proteins, lipids, and metabolites for commercial applications are extensively discussed here. Various attempts to address current limitations in designing novel cell factories have been highlighted that include the advances in the fields of genome-scale metabolic model reconstruction, flux balance analysis, 'omics'-data integration into models, genome-editing toolkit development, and rewiring of cellular metabolisms for desired chemical production. Additionally, the understanding of metabolic networks using ¹³C-labelling experiments as well as the utilization of metabolomics in deciphering intracellular fluxes and reactions have also been discussed here. Application of cutting-edge nuclease-based genome editing platforms like CRISPR/Cas9, and its optimization towards efficient strain engineering in non-conventional yeasts have also been described. Additionally, the impact of the advances in promising non-conventional yeasts for efficient commercial molecule synthesis has been meticulously reviewed. In the future, a cohesive approach involving systems and synthetic biology will help in widening the horizon of the use of unexplored non-conventional yeast species towards industrial biotechnology.

Pentose metabolism and conversion to biofuels and high-value chemicals in yeasts

Pentose sugars are widespread in nature and two of them, D-xylose and L-arabinose belong to the most abundant sugars being the second and third by abundance sugars in dry plant biomass (lignocellulose) and in general on planet. Therefore, it is not surprising that metabolism and bioconversion of these pentoses attract much attention. Several different pathways of D-xylose and L-arabinose catabolism in bacteria and yeasts are known. There are even more common and really ubiquitous though not so abundant pentoses, D-ribose and 2-deoxy-D-ribose, the constituents of all living cells. Thus, ribose metabolism is example of endogenous metabolism whereas metabolism of other pentoses, including xylose and L-arabinose, represents examples of the metabolism of foreign exogenous compounds which normally are not constituents of yeast cells. As a rule, pentose degradation by the wild-type strains of microorganisms does not lead to accumulation of high amounts of valuable substances; however, productive strains have been obtained by random selection and metabolic engineering. There are numerous reviews on xylose and (less) L-arabinose metabolism and conversion to high value substances; however, they mostly are devoted to bacteria or the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This review is devoted to reviewing pentose metabolism and bioconversion mostly in non-conventional yeasts, which naturally metabolize xylose. Pentose metabolism in the recombinant strains of S. cerevisiae is also considered for comparison. The available data on ribose, xylose, L-arabinose transport, metabolism, regulation of these processes, interaction with glucose catabolism and construction of the productive strains of high-value chemicals or pentose (ribose) itself are described. In addition, genome studies of the natural xylose metabolizing yeasts and available tools for their molecular research are reviewed. Metabolism of other pentoses (2-deoxyribose, D-arabinose, lyxose) is briefly reviewed.

Transforming yeast peroxisomes into microfactories for the efficient production of high-value isoprenoids

Current approaches for the production of high-value compounds in microorganisms mostly use the cytosol as a general reaction vessel. However, competing pathways and metabolic cross-talk frequently prevent efficient synthesis of target compounds in the cytosol. Eukaryotic cells control the complexity of their metabolism by harnessing organelles to insulate biochemical pathways. Inspired by this concept, herein we transform yeast peroxisomes into microfactories for geranyl diphosphate-derived compounds, focusing on monoterpenoids, monoterpene indole alkaloids, and cannabinoids. We introduce a complete mevalonate pathway in the peroxisome to convert acetyl-CoA to several commercially important monoterpenes and achieve up to 125-fold increase over cytosolic production. Furthermore, peroxisomal production improves subsequent decoration by cytochrome P450s, supporting efficient conversion of (S)-(-)-limonene to the menthol precursor trans-isopiperitenol. We also establish synthesis of 8-hydroxygeraniol, the precursor of monoterpene indole alkaloids, and cannabigerolic acid, the cannabinoid precursor. Our findings establish peroxisomal engineering as an efficient strategy for the production of isoprenoids.

Peroxisome prognostications: Exploring the birth, life, and death of an organelle

Peroxisomes play a central role in human health and have biochemical properties that promote their use in many biotechnology settings. With a primary role in lipid metabolism, peroxisomes share a niche with lipid droplets within the endomembrane-secretory system. Notably, factors in the ER required for the biogenesis of peroxisomes also impact the formation of lipid droplets. The dynamic interface between peroxisomes and lipid droplets, and also between these organelles and the ER and mitochondria, controls their metabolic flux and their dynamics. Here, we review our understanding of peroxisome biogenesis to propose and reframe models for understanding how peroxisomes are formed in cells. To more fully understand the roles of peroxisomes and to take advantage of their many properties that may prove useful in novel therapeutics or biotechnology applications, we recast mechanisms controlling peroxisome biogenesis in a framework that integrates inference from these models with experimental data.

The Combination of Carbon Source and the Addition of Phenylacetic Acid (PAA) to Growth Medium Penicillium chrysogenum to Enhance of Penicillin (Pen G) Production

The nutrition factor governs the growth and production of Penicillin G (Pen G) by Penicillium chrysogenum in a broth medium. Proper nutrition can improve Pen G antibiotic production. In this research, the optimal condition for Pen G production from P. chrysogenum in a standard culture medium and various carbon sources medium (glucose, lactose, maltose, and sucrose) were done for ten days. Phenylacetic Acid (PAA) precursor at 0.0 – 0.6 gL-1 (increment 0.1) was used to improve Pen G production. The Pen G was detected by HPLC, compared with the standard (Penicillin G Sodium Salt). The results showed that the PDB standard medium and lactose medium (150 rpm, at 30°C) produced 0.425 gL-1 and 0.107 gL-1 Pen G. Addition of 0.6 gL-1 PAA improved the Pen G production up to 0.045 gL-1 in the PDB medium, become the final concentration of 0.470 gL-1 and 2.460 gL-1 in the lactose medium, become the final concentration of 2.565 gL-1. The antibiotic’s activity against the pathogenic bacteria, i.e., B. subtilis, S. aureus, and S. typhi employing the disk diffusion method, has been done. The TLC method’s detection of the potential Pen G spots was conducted with ethyl acetate: distilled water: acetic acid (60:20:20) as the mobile phase. The Pen G extracts could inhibit the growth of all tested bacteria in Rf 0.65. This study informs the proper combination of carbon source and precursor effects and increases the bioproduction of Pen G from P. chrysogenum.

Transport systems, intracellular traffic of intermediates and secretion of β-lactam antibiotics in fungi

Fungal secondary metabolites are synthesized by complex biosynthetic pathways catalized by enzymes located in different subcellular compartments, thus requiring traffic of precursors and intermediates between them. The β-lactam antibiotics penicillin and cephalosporin C serve as an excellent model to understand the molecular mechanisms that control the subcellular localization of secondary metabolites biosynthetic enzymes. Optimal functioning of the β-lactam biosynthetic enzymes relies on a sophisticated temporal and spatial organization of the enzymes, the intermediates and the final products. The first and second enzymes of the penicillin pathway, ACV synthetase and IPN synthase, in Penicillium chrysogenum and Aspergillus nidulans are cytosolic. In contrast, the last two enzymes of the penicillin pathway, phenylacetyl-CoA ligase and isopenicillin N acyltransferase, are located in peroxisomes working as a tandem at their optimal pH that coincides with the peroxisomes pH. Two MFS transporters, PenM and PaaT have been found to be involved in the import of the intermediates isopenicillin N and phenylacetic acid, respectively, into peroxisomes. Similar compartmentalization of intermediates occurs in Acremonium chrysogenum; two enzymes isopenicillin N-CoA ligase and isopenicillin N-CoA epimerase, that catalyse the conversion of isopenicillin N in penicillin N, are located in peroxisomes. Two genes encoding MFS transporters, cefP and cefM, are located in the early cephalosporin gene cluster. These transporters have been localized in peroxisomes by confocal fluorescence microscopy. A third gene of A. chrysogenum, cefT, encodes an MFS protein, located in the cell membrane involved in the secretion of cephalosporin C, although cefT-disrupted mutants are still able to export cephalosporin by redundant transporters. The secretion of penicillin from peroxisomes to the extracellular medium is still unclear. Attempts have been made to identify a gene encoding the penicillin secretion protein among the 48 ABC-transporters of P. chrysogenum. The highly efficient secretion system that exports penicillin against a concentration gradient may involve active penicillin extrusion systems mediated by vesicles that fuse to the cell membrane. However, there is no correlation of pexophagy with penicillin or cephalosporin formation since inactivation of pexophagy leads to increased penicillin or cephalosporin biosynthesis due to preservation of peroxisomes. The penicillin biosynthesis finding shows that in order to increase biosynthesis of novel secondary metabolites it is essential to adequately target enzymes to organelles.

Mating-type switching and mating-type gene array expression in the methylotrophic yeast Ogataea thermomethanolica TBRC656

The methylotrophic yeast, Ogataea thermomethanolica TBRC656, is an attractive host organism for heterologous protein production owing to the availability of protein expression vectors and a genome-editing tool. In this study, we focused on mating-type switching and gene expression in order to elucidate its sexual life cycle and establish genetic approaches applicable for the strain. A putative mating-type gene cluster was identified in TBRC656 that is syntenic to the cluster in Ogataea parapolymorpha DL-1 (previously named Hansenula polymorpha). Like DL-1, TBRC656 possesses two mating loci, namely MATa and MATα, and also shows flip-flop mating-type switching. Interestingly, unlike any other methylotrophic yeast, TBRC656 robustly switched mating type during late growth in rich medium (YPD). Under nutrient depletion, mating-type switching was observed within one hour. Transcription from both MATa and MATα mating loci was detected during growth in YPD, and possibly induced upon nitrogen depletion. Gene expression from MATα was detected as a single co-transcript from a three-gene array (α2-α1-a1S). Deletion of a putative a1S ORF at the MATα locus had no observed effect on mating-type switching but demonstrated significant effect on mating-type gene expression at both MATa and MATα loci.

Nonribosomal peptides in fungal cell factories: from genome mining to optimized heterologous production

Fungi are notoriously prolific producers of secondary metabolites including nonribosomal peptides (NRPs). The structural complexity of NRPs grants them interesting activities such as antibiotic, anti-cancer, and anti-inflammatory properties. The discovery of these compounds with attractive activities can be achieved by using two approaches: either by screening samples originating from various environments for their biological activities, or by identifying the related clusters in genomic sequences thanks to bioinformatics tools. This genome mining approach has grown tremendously due to recent advances in genome sequencing, which have provided an incredible amount of genomic data from hundreds of microbial species. Regarding fungal organisms, the genomic data have revealed the presence of an unexpected number of putative NRP-related gene clusters. This highlights fungi as a goldmine for the discovery of putative novel bioactive compounds. Recent development of NRP dedicated bioinformatics tools have increased the capacity to identify these gene clusters and to deduce NRPs structures, speeding-up the screening process for novel metabolites discovery. Unfortunately, the newly identified compound is frequently not or poorly produced by native producers due to a lack of expression of the related genes cluster. A frequently employed strategy to increase production rates consists in transferring the related biosynthetic pathway in heterologous hosts. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview about the topic of NRPs discovery, from gene cluster identification by genome mining to the heterologous production in fungal hosts. The main computational tools and methods for genome mining are herein presented with an emphasis on the particularities of the fungal systems. The different steps of the reconstitution of NRP biosynthetic pathway in heterologous fungal cell factories will be discussed, as well as the key factors to consider for maximizing productivity. Several examples will be developed to illustrate the potential of heterologous production to both discover uncharacterized novel compounds predicted in silico by genome mining, and to enhance the productivity of interesting bio-active natural products.

Advances in Using Hansenula polymorpha as Chassis for Recombinant Protein Production

The methylotrophic yeast Hansenula polymorpha, known as a non-conventional yeast, is used for the last 30 years for the production of recombinant proteins, including enzymes, vaccines, and biopharmaceuticals. Although a large number of reviews have been published elucidating the applications of this yeast as a cell factory, the latest was released about 10 years ago. Therefore, this review aimed at summarizing available information on the use of H. polymorpha as a host for recombinant protein production in the last decade. Examples of chemicals and virus-like particles produced using this yeast also are discussed. Firstly, the aspects that feature this yeast as a host for recombinant protein production are highlighted including the techniques available for its genetic manipulation as well as strategies for cultivation in bioreactors. Special attention is given to the novel genomic editing tools, mainly CRISPR/Cas9 that was recently established in this yeast. Finally, recent examples of using H. polymorpha as an expression platform are presented and discussed. The production of human Parathyroid Hormone (PTH) and Staphylokinase (SAK) in H. polymorpha are described as case studies for process establishment in this yeast. Altogether, this review is a guideline for this yeast utilization as an expression platform bringing a thorough analysis of the genetic aspects and fermentation protocols used up to date, thus encouraging the production of novel biomolecules in H. polymorpha.

Repurposing peroxisomes for microbial synthesis for biomolecules

Microbial synthesis represents an alternative approach for the sustainable production of chemicals, fuels, and medicines. However, construction of biosynthetic pathways always suffers from side reactions, toxicity of intermediates, or low efficiency of substrate channeling. Subcellular compartmentalization may contribute to a more efficient production of target products by reducing side reactions and toxic effects within a compact insular space. The peroxisome, a type of organelle that is involved in catabolism of fatty acids and reactive oxygen species, has attracted a great deal of attention in the construction of eukaryotic cell factories with little impact on essential cellular function. In this chapter, we will systematically review recent advances in peroxisomal compartmentalization for microbial production of valuable biomolecules. Additionally, detailed experimental designs and protocols are also described. We hope a comprehensive understanding of peroxisomes will promote their application in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Systems and Synthetic Biology Approaches to Engineer Fungi for Fine Chemical Production

Since the advent of systems and synthetic biology, many studies have sought to harness microbes as cell factories through genetic and metabolic engineering approaches. Yeast and filamentous fungi have been successfully harnessed to produce fine and high value-added chemical products. In this review, we present some of the most promising advances from recent years in the use of fungi for this purpose, focusing on the manipulation of fungal strains using systems and synthetic biology tools to improve metabolic flow and the flow of secondary metabolites by pathway redesign. We also review the roles of bioinformatics analysis and predictions in synthetic circuits, highlighting in silico systemic approaches to improve the efficiency of synthetic modules.

Genome and metabolic engineering in non-conventional yeasts: Current advances and applications

Microbial production of chemicals and proteins from biomass-derived and waste sugar streams is a rapidly growing area of research and development. While the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is an excellent host for the conversion of glucose to ethanol, production of other chemicals from alternative substrates often requires extensive strain engineering. To avoid complex and intensive engineering of S. cerevisiae, other yeasts are often selected as hosts for bioprocessing based on their natural capacity to produce a desired product: for example, the efficient production and secretion of proteins, lipids, and primary metabolites that have value as commodity chemicals. Even when using yeasts with beneficial native phenotypes, metabolic engineering to increase yield, titer, and production rate is essential. The non-conventional yeasts Kluyveromyces lactis, K. marxianus, Scheffersomyces stipitis, Yarrowia lipolytica, Hansenula polymorpha and Pichia pastoris have been developed as eukaryotic hosts because of their desirable phenotypes, including thermotolerance, assimilation of diverse carbon sources, and high protein secretion. However, advanced metabolic engineering in these yeasts has been limited. This review outlines the challenges of using non-conventional yeasts for strain and pathway engineering, and discusses the developed solutions to these problems and the resulting applications in industrial biotechnology.

Biosynthesis of the antibiotic nonribosomal peptide penicillin in baker's yeast

Fungi are a valuable source of enzymatic diversity and therapeutic natural products including antibiotics. Here we engineer the baker's yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce and secrete the antibiotic penicillin, a beta-lactam nonribosomal peptide, by taking genes from a filamentous fungus and directing their efficient expression and subcellular localization. Using synthetic biology tools combined with long-read DNA sequencing, we optimize productivity by 50-fold to produce bioactive yields that allow spent S. cerevisiae growth media to have antibacterial action against Streptococcus bacteria. This work demonstrates that S. cerevisiae can be engineered to perform the complex biosynthesis of multicellular fungi, opening up the possibility of using yeast to accelerate rational engineering of nonribosomal peptide antibiotics.

Filamentous fungi are a valuable source of natural therapeutic products such as antibiotics. Here the authors engineer monocellular S. cerevisiae to perform complex secondary metabolism typical of multicellular fungi in order to demonstrate biosynthesis and secretion of bioactive penicillin.

Biochemical pathways supporting beta-lactam biosynthesis in the springtail Folsomia candida

Recently, an active set of beta-lactam biosynthesis genes was reported in the genome of the arthropod springtail Folsomia candida (Collembola). Evidence was provided that these genes were acquired through horizontal gene transfer. However, successful integration of fungal- or bacterial-derived beta-lactam biosynthesis into the metabolism of an animal requires the beta-lactam precursor L-α-aminoadipic acid and a phosphopantetheinyl transferase for activation of the first enzyme of the pathway, δ-(L-α-aminoadipoyl)-L-cysteinyl-D-valine synthetase (ACVS). In this study, we characterized these supporting pathways and their transcriptional regulation in F. candida. We identified one phosphopantetheinyl transferase and three pathways for L-α-aminoadipic acid production, distinct from the pathways utilized by microorganisms. We found that after heat shock, the phosphopantetheinyl transferase was co-regulated with ACVS, confirming its role in activating ACVS. Two of the three L-α-aminoadipic acid production pathways were downregulated, while PIPOX, an enzyme participating in the pipecolate pathway, was slightly co-regulated with ACVS. This indicates that L-α-aminoadipic acid may not be a limiting factor in beta-lactam biosynthesis in F. candida, in contrast to microorganisms. In conclusion, we show that all components for L-α-aminoadipic acid synthesis are present and transcriptionally active in F. candida. This demonstrates how springtails could have recruited native enzymes to integrate a beta-lactam biosynthesis pathway into their metabolism after horizontal gene transfer.

Summary: Analysis of phosphopantetheinyl transferases and metabolic pathways for L-α-aminoadipic acid that are required for beta-lactam biosynthesis in the arthropod Folsomia candida.

Biosynthesis of therapeutic natural products using synthetic biology

Natural products are a group of bioactive structurally diverse chemicals produced by microorganisms and plants. These molecules and their derivatives have contributed to over a third of the therapeutic drugs produced in the last century. However, over the last few decades traditional drug discovery pipelines from natural products have become far less productive and far more expensive. One recent development with promise to combat this trend is the application of synthetic biology to therapeutic natural product biosynthesis. Synthetic biology is a young discipline with roots in systems biology, genetic engineering, and metabolic engineering. In this review, we discuss the use of synthetic biology to engineer improved yields of existing therapeutic natural products. We further describe the use of synthetic biology to combine and express natural product biosynthetic genes in unprecedented ways, and how this holds promise for opening up completely new avenues for drug discovery and production.

Recent advances in engineering nonribosomal peptide assembly lines

Nonribosomal peptides are amongst the most widespread and structurally diverse secondary metabolites in nature with many possessing bioactivity that can be exploited for therapeutic applications. Due to the major challenges associated with total- and semi-synthesis, bioengineering approaches have been developed to increase yields and generate modified peptides with improved physicochemical properties or altered bioactivity. Here we review the major advances that have been made over the last decade in engineering the biosynthesis of nonribosomal peptides. Structural diversity has been introduced by the modification of enzymes required for the supply of precursors or by heterologous expression of tailoring enzymes. The modularity of nonribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) assembly lines further supports module or domain swapping methodologies to achieve changes in the amino acid sequence of nonribosomal peptides. We also review the new synthetic biology technologies promising to speed up the process, enabling the creation and optimisation of many more assembly lines for heterologous expression, offering new opportunities for engineering the biosynthesis of novel nonribosomal peptides.

Metabolic engineering of strains: from industrial-scale to lab-scale chemical production

A plethora of successful metabolic engineering case studies have been published over the past several decades. Here, we highlight a collection of microbially produced chemicals using a historical framework, starting with titers ranging from industrial scale (more than 50 g/L), to medium-scale (5–50 g/L), and lab-scale (0–5 g/L). Although engineered Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae emerge as prominent hosts in the literature as a result of well-developed genetic engineering tools, several novel native-producing strains are gaining attention. This review catalogs the current progress of metabolic engineering towards production of compounds such as acids, alcohols, amino acids, natural organic compounds, and others.

Fungal peroxisomes as biosynthetic organelles

Peroxisomes are nearly ubiquitous single-membrane organelles harboring multiple metabolic pathways beside their prominent role in the β-oxidation of fatty acids. Here we review the diverse metabolic functions of peroxisomes in fungi. A variety of fungal metabolites are at least partially synthesized inside peroxisomes. These include the essential co-factor biotin but also different types of secondary metabolites. Peroxisomal metabolites are often derived from acyl-CoA esters for example β-oxidation intermediates. In several ascomycetes a subtype of peroxisomes has been identified that is metabolically inactive but is required to plug the septal pores of wounded hyphae. Thus, peroxisomes are versatile organelles that can adapt their function to the life style of an organism. This remarkable variability suggests that the full extent of the biosynthetic capacity of peroxisomes is still elusive. Moreover, in fungi peroxisomes are non-essential under laboratory conditions making them attractive organelles for biotechnological approaches and the design of novel metabolic pathways in customized peroxisomes.

Design of optimally constructed metabolic networks of minimal functionality

Background

Metabolic engineering aims to design microorganisms that will generate a product of interest at high yield. Thus, a variety of in silico modeling strategies has been applied successfully, including the concepts of elementary flux modes (EFMs) and constrained minimal cut sets (cMCSs). The EFMs (minimal, steady state pathways through the system) can be calculated given a metabolic model. cMCSs are sets of reaction deletions in such a network that will allow desired pathways to survive and disable undesired ones (e.g., those with low product secretion or low growth rates). Grouping the modes into desired and undesired categories had to be done manually until now.

Results

Although the optimal solution for a given set of pathways will always be found with the currently available tools, manual selection may lead to a sub-optimal solution with respect to a metabolic engineering target. A small change in the selection of modes can reduce the number of necessary deletions while only slightly reducing production. Based on our recently introduced formulation of cut set calculations using binary linear programming, we suggest an algorithm that does not require manual selection of the desired pathways.

Conclusions

We demonstrated the principle of our algorithm with the help of a small toy network and applied it to a model of E. coli using different design objectives. Furthermore we validated our method by reproducing previously obtained results without requiring manual grouping of modes.

Yeast biotechnology: teaching the old dog new tricks

Yeasts are regarded as the first microorganisms used by humans to process food and alcoholic beverages. The technology developed out of these ancient processes has been the basis for modern industrial biotechnology. Yeast biotechnology has gained great interest again in the last decades. Joining the potentials of genomics, metabolic engineering, systems and synthetic biology enables the production of numerous valuable products of primary and secondary metabolism, technical enzymes and biopharmaceutical proteins. An overview of emerging and established substrates and products of yeast biotechnology is provided and discussed in the light of the recent literature.

Fungal extrolites as a new source for therapeutic compounds and as building blocks for applications in synthetic biology

Secondary metabolic pathways of fungal origin provide an almost unlimited resource of new compounds for medical applications, which can fulfill some of the, currently unmet, needs for therapeutic alternatives for the treatment of a number of diseases. Secondary metabolites secreted to the extracellular medium (extrolites) belong to diverse chemical and structural families, but the majority of them are synthesized by the condensation of a limited number of precursor building blocks including amino acids, sugars, lipids and low molecular weight compounds also employed in anabolic processes. In fungi, genes related to secondary metabolic pathways are frequently clustered together and show a modular organization within fungal genomes. The majority of fungal gene clusters responsible for the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites contain genes encoding a high molecular weight condensing enzyme which is responsible for the assembly of the precursor units of the metabolite. They also contain other auxiliary genes which encode enzymes involved in subsequent chemical modification of the metabolite core. Synthetic biology is a branch of molecular biology whose main objective is the manipulation of cellular components and processes in order to perform logically connected metabolic functions. In synthetic biology applications, biosynthetic modules from secondary metabolic processes can be rationally engineered and combined to produce either new compounds, or to improve the activities and/or the bioavailability of the already known ones. Recently, advanced genome editing techniques based on guided DNA endonucleases have shown potential for the manipulation of eukaryotic and bacterial genomes. This review discusses the potential application of genetic engineering and genome editing tools in the rational design of fungal secondary metabolite pathways by taking advantage of the increasing availability of genomic and biochemical data.

Tools for genetic engineering of the yeast Hansenula polymorpha

Hansenula polymorpha is a methylotrophic yeast species that has favorable properties for heterologous protein production and metabolic engineering. It provides an attractive expression platform with the capability to secrete high levels of commercially important proteins. Over the past few years many efforts have led to advances in the development of this microbial host including the generation of expression vectors containing strong constitutive or inducible promoters and a large array of dominant and auxotrophic markers. Moreover, highly efficient transformation procedures used to generate genetically stable strains are now available. Here, we describe these tools as well as the methods for genetic engineering of H. polymorpha.

Reconstructing fungal natural product biosynthetic pathways

Molecular biology plays a vital role in contemporary natural product research. Responding to developments in whole genome sequencing, heterologous expression systems are being refined to accommodate whole fungal biosynthetic pathways.

The phosphopantetheinyl transferases: catalysis of a post-translational modification crucial for life

Covering: up to 2013. Although holo-acyl carrier protein synthase, AcpS, a phosphopantetheinyl transferase (PPTase), was characterized in the 1960s, it was not until the publication of the landmark paper by Lambalot et al. in 1996 that PPTases garnered wide-spread attention being classified as a distinct enzyme superfamily. In the past two decades an increasing number of papers have been published on PPTases ranging from identification, characterization, structure determination, mutagenesis, inhibition, and engineering in synthetic biology. In this review, we comprehensively discuss all current knowledge on this class of enzymes that post-translationally install a 4'-phosphopantetheine arm on various carrier proteins.

Exploring antibiotic biosynthesis: Leo Vining's insights lead to new strategies in the quest for 'The 10 × '20 Initiative'

The late Professor Leo Vining began his antibiotics research career as a visiting scientist in the laboratory of Selman Waksman at Rutgers University during the golden age of antibiotics. Through six decades of his distinguished career, Vining explored the biosynthesis of dozens of antibacterial and antifungal compounds produced by microorganisms. A number of underlying mechanisms of antibiotic biosynthesis were unraveled through his holistic approach and the findings laid the foundation to our understanding of regulation of antibiotic biosynthesis. In this paper, we reflect on Professor Vining's antibiotic research philosophy from a personal perspective and connect this philosophy to new approaches for rapid development of the next generation of antibiotics, which is urgently needed to combat the threat of escalating antimicrobial resistance. Facing the urgency, The Infectious Disease Society of America launched 'The 10 × '20 Initiative' in 2010 and called for a global commitment to develop 10 new, safe and effective antibiotics by the year 2020.(1.)