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Jenkinson CB, Podgorny AR, Zhong C, Oakley BR. Computer-aided, resistance gene-guided genome mining for proteasome and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2023; 50:kuad045. [PMID: 38061800 PMCID: PMC10734572 DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuad045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 12/22/2023]
Abstract
Secondary metabolites (SMs) are biologically active small molecules, many of which are medically valuable. Fungal genomes contain vast numbers of SM biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) with unknown products, suggesting that huge numbers of valuable SMs remain to be discovered. It is challenging, however, to identify SM BGCs, among the millions present in fungi, that produce useful compounds. One solution is resistance gene-guided genome mining, which takes advantage of the fact that some BGCs contain a gene encoding a resistant version of the protein targeted by the compound produced by the BGC. The bioinformatic signature of such BGCs is that they contain an allele of an essential gene with no SM biosynthetic function, and there is a second allele elsewhere in the genome. We have developed a computer-assisted approach to resistance gene-guided genome mining that allows users to query large databases for BGCs that putatively make compounds that have targets of therapeutic interest. Working with the MycoCosm genome database, we have applied this approach to look for SM BGCs that target the proteasome β6 subunit, the target of the proteasome inhibitor fellutamide B, or HMG-CoA reductase, the target of cholesterol reducing therapeutics such as lovastatin. Our approach proved effective, finding known fellutamide and lovastatin BGCs as well as fellutamide- and lovastatin-related BGCs with variations in the SM genes that suggest they may produce structural variants of fellutamides and lovastatin. Gratifyingly, we also found BGCs that are not closely related to lovastatin BGCs but putatively produce novel HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. ONE-SENTENCE SUMMARY A new computer-assisted approach to resistance gene-directed genome mining is reported along with its use to identify fungal biosynthetic gene clusters that putatively produce proteasome and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cory B Jenkinson
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045,USA
| | - Adam R Podgorny
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045,USA
| | - Cuncong Zhong
- Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045,USA
| | - Berl R Oakley
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS 66045,USA
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2
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Kosalková K, Barreiro C, Sánchez-Orejas IC, Cueto L, García-Estrada C. Biotechnological Fungal Platforms for the Production of Biosynthetic Cannabinoids. J Fungi (Basel) 2023; 9:jof9020234. [PMID: 36836348 PMCID: PMC9963667 DOI: 10.3390/jof9020234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/17/2023] [Revised: 02/07/2023] [Accepted: 02/07/2023] [Indexed: 02/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Cannabinoids are bioactive meroterpenoids comprising prenylated polyketide molecules that can modulate a wide range of physiological processes. Cannabinoids have been shown to possess various medical/therapeutic effects, such as anti-convulsive, anti-anxiety, anti-psychotic, antinausea, and anti-microbial properties. The increasing interest in their beneficial effects and application as clinically useful drugs has promoted the development of heterologous biosynthetic platforms for the industrial production of these compounds. This approach can help circumvent the drawbacks associated with extraction from naturally occurring plants or chemical synthesis. In this review, we provide an overview of the fungal platforms developed by genetic engineering for the biosynthetic production of cannabinoids. Different yeast species, such as Komagataella phaffii (formerly P. pastoris) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae, have been genetically modified to include the cannabinoid biosynthetic pathway and to improve metabolic fluxes in order to increase cannabinoid titers. In addition, we engineered the filamentous fungus Penicillium chrysogenum for the first time as a host microorganism for the production of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinolic acid from intermediates (cannabigerolic acid and olivetolic acid), thereby showing the potential of filamentous fungi as alternative platforms for cannabinoid biosynthesis upon optimization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katarina Kosalková
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Av. Real 1, 24006 León, Spain
| | - Carlos Barreiro
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Av. Real 1, 24006 León, Spain
- Área de Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Departamento de Biología Molecular, Campus de Vegazana, Universidad de León, 24007 León, Spain
| | | | - Laura Cueto
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Av. Real 1, 24006 León, Spain
| | - Carlos García-Estrada
- INBIOTEC (Instituto de Biotecnología de León), Av. Real 1, 24006 León, Spain
- Departamento de Ciencias Biomédicas, Campus de Vegazana, Universidad de León, 24007 León, Spain
- Correspondence: ; Tel.: +34-987-293-693
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3
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Zhang L, Wang C, Chen K, Zhong W, Xu Y, Molnár I. Engineering the biosynthesis of fungal nonribosomal peptides. Nat Prod Rep 2023; 40:62-88. [PMID: 35796260 DOI: 10.1039/d2np00036a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/04/2023]
Abstract
Covering: 2011 up to the end of 2021.Fungal nonribosomal peptides (NRPs) and the related polyketide-nonribosomal peptide hybrid products (PK-NRPs) are a prolific source of bioactive compounds, some of which have been developed into essential drugs. The synthesis of these complex natural products (NPs) utilizes nonribosomal peptide synthetases (NRPSs), multidomain megaenzymes that assemble specific peptide products by sequential condensation of amino acids and amino acid-like substances, independent of the ribosome. NRPSs, collaborating polyketide synthase modules, and their associated tailoring enzymes involved in product maturation represent promising targets for NP structure diversification and the generation of small molecule unnatural products (uNPs) with improved or novel bioactivities. Indeed, reprogramming of NRPSs and recruiting of novel tailoring enzymes is the strategy by which nature evolves NRP products. The recent years have witnessed a rapid development in the discovery and identification of novel NRPs and PK-NRPs, and significant advances have also been made towards the engineering of fungal NRP assembly lines to generate uNP peptides. However, the intrinsic complexities of fungal NRP and PK-NRP biosynthesis, and the large size of the NRPSs still present formidable conceptual and technical challenges for the rational and efficient reprogramming of these pathways. This review examines key examples for the successful (and for some less-successful) re-engineering of fungal NRPS assembly lines to inform future efforts towards generating novel, biologically active peptides and PK-NRPs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwen Zhang
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Chen Wang
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Kang Chen
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Weimao Zhong
- Southwest Center for Natural Products Research, University of Arizona, 250 E. Valencia Rd., Tucson, AZ 85706, USA
| | - Yuquan Xu
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - István Molnár
- Southwest Center for Natural Products Research, University of Arizona, 250 E. Valencia Rd., Tucson, AZ 85706, USA.,VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, P.O. Box 1000, FI-02044 VTT, Espoo, Finland.
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4
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Chiang YM, Lin TS, Wang CCC. Total Heterologous Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products in Aspergillus nidulans. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2022; 85:2484-2518. [PMID: 36173392 PMCID: PMC9621686 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c00487] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/16/2023]
Abstract
Fungal natural products comprise a wide range of bioactive compounds including important drugs and agrochemicals. Intriguingly, bioinformatic analyses of fungal genomes have revealed that fungi have the potential to produce significantly more natural products than what have been discovered so far. It has thus become widely accepted that most biosynthesis pathways of fungal natural products are silent or expressed at very low levels under laboratory cultivation conditions. To tap into this vast chemical reservoir, the reconstitution of entire biosynthetic pathways in genetically tractable fungal hosts (total heterologous biosynthesis) has become increasingly employed in recent years. This review summarizes total heterologous biosynthesis of fungal natural products accomplished before 2020 using Aspergillus nidulans as heterologous hosts. We review here Aspergillus transformation, A. nidulans hosts, shuttle vectors for episomal expression, and chromosomal integration expression. These tools, collectively, not only facilitate the discovery of cryptic natural products but can also be used to generate high-yield strains with clean metabolite backgrounds. In comparison with total synthesis, total heterologous biosynthesis offers a simplified strategy to construct complex molecules and holds potential for commercial application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ming Chiang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
- Department of Pharmacy, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 71710, Taiwan
| | - Tzu-Shyang Lin
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Clay C C Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
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5
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Vignolle GA, Mach RL, Mach-Aigner AR, Zimmermann C. FunOrder 2.0 - a method for the fully automated curation of co-evolved genes in fungal biosynthetic gene clusters. FRONTIERS IN FUNGAL BIOLOGY 2022; 3:1020623. [PMID: 37746171 PMCID: PMC10512238 DOI: 10.3389/ffunb.2022.1020623] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 09/26/2023]
Abstract
Coevolution is an important biological process that shapes interacting proteins - may it be physically interacting proteins or consecutive enzymes in a metabolic pathway, such as the biosynthetic pathways for secondary metabolites. Previously, we developed FunOrder, a semi-automated method for the detection of co-evolved genes, and demonstrated that FunOrder can be used to identify essential genes in biosynthetic gene clusters from different ascomycetes. A major drawback of this original method was the need for a manual assessment, which may create a user bias and prevents a high-throughput application. Here we present a fully automated version of this method termed FunOrder 2.0. In the improved version, we use several mathematical indices to determine the optimal number of clusters in the FunOrder output, and a subsequent k-means clustering based on the first three principal components of a principal component analysis of the FunOrder output to automatically detect co-evolved genes. Further, we replaced the BLAST tool with the DIAMOND tool as a prerequisite for using larger proteome databases. Potentially, FunOrder 2.0 may be used for the assessment of complete genomes, which has not been attempted yet. However, the introduced changes slightly decreased the sensitivity of this method, which is outweighed by enhanced overall speed and specificity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel A. Vignolle
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
- Center for Health & Bioresources, Competence Unit Molecular Diagnostics, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology GmbH, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert L. Mach
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid R. Mach-Aigner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian Zimmermann
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
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6
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Mózsik L, Iacovelli R, Bovenberg RAL, Driessen AJM. Transcriptional Activation of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters in Filamentous Fungi. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10:901037. [PMID: 35910033 PMCID: PMC9335490 DOI: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.901037] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/21/2022] [Accepted: 06/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungi are highly productive cell factories, many of which are industrial producers of enzymes, organic acids, and secondary metabolites. The increasing number of sequenced fungal genomes revealed a vast and unexplored biosynthetic potential in the form of transcriptionally silent secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Various strategies have been carried out to explore and mine this untapped source of bioactive molecules, and with the advent of synthetic biology, novel applications, and tools have been developed for filamentous fungi. Here we summarize approaches aiming for the expression of endogenous or exogenous natural product BGCs, including synthetic transcription factors, assembly of artificial transcription units, gene cluster refactoring, fungal shuttle vectors, and platform strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- László Mózsik
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Riccardo Iacovelli
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Roel A. L. Bovenberg
- DSM Biotechnology Center, Delft, Netherlands
- Department of Synthetic Biology and Cell Engineering, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
| | - Arnold J. M. Driessen
- Department of Molecular Microbiology, Groningen Biomolecular Sciences and Biotechnology Institute, University of Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands
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7
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Araki Y, Shinohara Y, Hara S, Sato A, Sakaue R, Gomi K, Kita K, Ito K. Heterologous production of ascofuranone and ilicicolin A in Aspergillus sojae. J GEN APPL MICROBIOL 2022; 68:10-16. [PMID: 35418536 DOI: 10.2323/jgam.2021.08.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Ascofuranone and its precursor, ilicicolin A, are secondary metabolites with various pharmacological activities that are produced by Acremonium egyptiacum. In particular, ascofuranone strongly inhibits trypanosome alternative oxidase and represents a potential drug candidate against African trypanosomiasis. However, difficulties associated with industrial production of ascofuranone by A. egyptiacum, specifically the co-production of ascochlorin, which inhibits mammalian respiratory chain complex III at low concentrations, has precluded its widespread application. Therefore, in this study, ascofuranone biosynthetic genes (ascA-E and H-J) were heterologously expressed in Aspergillus sojae, which produced very low-levels of endogenous secondary metabolites under conventional culture conditions. As a result, although we obtained transformants producing both ilicicolin A and ascofuranone, they were produced only when an adequate concentration of chloride ions was added to the medium. In addition, we succeeded in increasing the production of ilicicolin A, by enhancing the expression of the rate-determining enzyme AscD, using a multi-copy integration system. The heterologous expression approach described here afforded the production of both ascofuranone and ilicicolin A, allowing for their development as therapeutics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yasuko Araki
- Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation
| | | | - Seiichi Hara
- Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation
| | - Atsushi Sato
- Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation
| | | | - Keiko Gomi
- Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation
| | - Kiyoshi Kita
- School of Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nagasaki University.,Department of Host-Defense Biochemistry, Institute of Tropical Medicine
| | - Kotaro Ito
- Research and Development Division, Kikkoman Corporation
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8
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Roux I, Chooi YH. Cre/ lox-Mediated Chromosomal Integration of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters for Heterologous Expression in Aspergillus nidulans. ACS Synth Biol 2022; 11:1186-1195. [PMID: 35168324 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.1c00458] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Building strains of filamentous fungi for stable long-term heterologous expression of large biosynthetic pathways is limited by the low transformation efficiency or genetic stability of current methods. Here, we developed a system for targeted chromosomal integration of large biosynthetic gene clusters in Aspergillus nidulans based on site-specific recombinase-mediated cassette exchange. We built A. nidulans strains harboring a chromosomal landing pad for Cre/lox-mediated recombination and demonstrated efficient targeted integration of a 21 kb DNA fragment in a single step. We further evaluated the integration at two loci by analyzing the expression of a fluorescent reporter and the production of a heterologous polyketide metabolite. We compared chromosomal expression at those landing loci to episomal AMA1-based expression, which also shed light on uncharacterized aspects of episomal expression in filamentous fungi. This is the first demonstration of site-specific recombinase-mediated integration in filamentous fungi, setting the foundations for the further development of this tool.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indra Roux
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
| | - Yit-Heng Chooi
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, Western Australia 6009, Australia
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9
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Endophytic Fungi: Key Insights, Emerging Prospects, and Challenges in Natural Product Drug Discovery. Microorganisms 2022; 10:microorganisms10020360. [PMID: 35208814 PMCID: PMC8876476 DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms10020360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2022] [Revised: 01/25/2022] [Accepted: 02/01/2022] [Indexed: 12/01/2022] Open
Abstract
Plant-associated endophytes define an important symbiotic association in nature and are established bio-reservoirs of plant-derived natural products. Endophytes colonize the internal tissues of a plant without causing any disease symptoms or apparent changes. Recently, there has been a growing interest in endophytes because of their beneficial effects on the production of novel metabolites of pharmacological significance. Studies have highlighted the socio-economic implications of endophytic fungi in agriculture, medicine, and the environment, with considerable success. Endophytic fungi-mediated biosynthesis of well-known metabolites includes taxol from Taxomyces andreanae, azadirachtin A and B from Eupenicillium parvum, vincristine from Fusarium oxysporum, and quinine from Phomopsis sp. The discovery of the billion-dollar anticancer drug taxol was a landmark in endophyte biology/research and established new paradigms for the metabolic potential of plant-associated endophytes. In addition, endophytic fungi have emerged as potential prolific producers of antimicrobials, antiseptics, and antibiotics of plant origin. Although extensively studied as a “production platform” of novel pharmacological metabolites, the molecular mechanisms of plant–endophyte dynamics remain less understood/explored for their efficient utilization in drug discovery. The emerging trends in endophytic fungi-mediated biosynthesis of novel bioactive metabolites, success stories of key pharmacological metabolites, strategies to overcome the existing challenges in endophyte biology, and future direction in endophytic fungi-based drug discovery forms the underlying theme of this article.
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10
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Investigating Fungal Biosynthetic Pathways Using Heterologous Gene Expression: Aspergillus nidulans as a Heterologous Host. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2489:41-52. [PMID: 35524044 PMCID: PMC9873597 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2273-5_3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Fungal natural products encompass an important source of pharmaceutically relevant molecules. Heterologous expression of biosynthetic pathways in chassis strains enables the discovery of new secondary metabolites and characterization of pathway enzymes. In our laboratory, biosynthetic genes in a clustered pathway have been refactored in engineered heterologous hosts such as Aspergillus nidulans. Here we describe the assembly of heterologous expression vectors, transformation into A. nidulans, and detection of new compounds in the transformant strains.
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11
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Roux I, Chooi YH. Heterologous Expression of Fungal Biosynthetic Pathways in Aspergillus nidulans Using Episomal Vectors. Methods Mol Biol 2022; 2489:75-92. [PMID: 35524046 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-0716-2273-5_5] [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] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Filamentous fungi produce a wide diversity of secondary metabolites, whose biosynthesis is encoded in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). As novel BGCs are often found in fungal species that are genetically intractable or difficult to cultivate, heterologous expression is increasingly being used for compound discovery. In addition, heterologous expression is a useful strategy to elucidate the function of the genes within a BGC and shed light on their enzymatic mechanisms. Here, we describe a method for BGC elucidation using multi-marker AMA1-based pYFAC vectors for episomal expression in the fungal host Aspergillus nidulans. The pYFAC vectors have the advantage of high transformation efficiency and support high compound production. In addition, different pathway intermediates can be easily evaluated by testing different vector combinations. This protocol encompasses different AMA1-based strategies for BGC expression such as cloning of a BGC native sequence, promoter exchange or transcription factor overexpression. We also describe procedures for A. nidulans protoplasting, transformation, and small-scale culture analysis of strains containing AMA1 vectors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Indra Roux
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Yit Heng Chooi
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
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12
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Meng X, Fang Y, Ding M, Zhang Y, Jia K, Li Z, Collemare J, Liu W. Developing fungal heterologous expression platforms to explore and improve the production of natural products from fungal biodiversity. Biotechnol Adv 2021; 54:107866. [PMID: 34780934 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2021.107866] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 10/04/2021] [Accepted: 11/05/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiangfeng Meng
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Yu Fang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Mingyang Ding
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Yanyu Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Kaili Jia
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Zhongye Li
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China
| | - Jérôme Collemare
- Westerdijk Fungal Biodiversity Institute, Uppsalalaan 8, 3584 CT Utrecht, the Netherlands.
| | - Weifeng Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology, Microbial Technology Institute, Shandong University, No. 72 Binhai Road, Qingdao 266237, PR China.
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13
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Vignolle GA, Schaffer D, Zehetner L, Mach RL, Mach-Aigner AR, Derntl C. FunOrder: A robust and semi-automated method for the identification of essential biosynthetic genes through computational molecular co-evolution. PLoS Comput Biol 2021; 17:e1009372. [PMID: 34570757 PMCID: PMC8476034 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1009372] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2021] [Accepted: 08/23/2021] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Secondary metabolites (SMs) are a vast group of compounds with different structures and properties that have been utilized as drugs, food additives, dyes, and as monomers for novel plastics. In many cases, the biosynthesis of SMs is catalysed by enzymes whose corresponding genes are co-localized in the genome in biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs). Notably, BGCs may contain so-called gap genes, that are not involved in the biosynthesis of the SM. Current genome mining tools can identify BGCs, but they have problems with distinguishing essential genes from gap genes. This can and must be done by expensive, laborious, and time-consuming comparative genomic approaches or transcriptome analyses. In this study, we developed a method that allows semi-automated identification of essential genes in a BGC based on co-evolution analysis. To this end, the protein sequences of a BGC are blasted against a suitable proteome database. For each protein, a phylogenetic tree is created. The trees are compared by treeKO to detect co-evolution. The results of this comparison are visualized in different output formats, which are compared visually. Our results suggest that co-evolution is commonly occurring within BGCs, albeit not all, and that especially those genes that encode for enzymes of the biosynthetic pathway are co-evolutionary linked and can be identified with FunOrder. In light of the growing number of genomic data available, this will contribute to the studies of BGCs in native hosts and facilitate heterologous expression in other organisms with the aim of the discovery of novel SMs. The discovery and description of novel fungal secondary metabolites promises novel antibiotics, pharmaceuticals, and other useful compounds. A way to identify novel secondary metabolites is to express the corresponding genes in a suitable expression host. Consequently, a detailed knowledge or an accurate prediction of these genes is necessary. In fungi, the genes are co-localized in so-called biosynthetic gene clusters. Notably, the clusters may also contain genes that are not necessary for the biosynthesis of the secondary metabolites, so-called gap genes. We developed a method to detect co-evolved genes within the clusters and demonstrated that essential genes are co-evolving and can thus be differentiated from the gap genes. This adds an additional layer of information, which can support researchers with their decisions on which genes to study and express for the discovery of novel secondary metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriel A. Vignolle
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Denise Schaffer
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Leopold Zehetner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Robert L. Mach
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Astrid R. Mach-Aigner
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
| | - Christian Derntl
- Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering, TU Wien, Vienna, Austria
- * E-mail:
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14
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Zhang L, Yue Q, Wang C, Xu Y, Molnár I. Secondary metabolites from hypocrealean entomopathogenic fungi: genomics as a tool to elucidate the encoded parvome. Nat Prod Rep 2021; 37:1164-1180. [PMID: 32211677 DOI: 10.1039/d0np00007h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Covering: 2014 up to the third quarter of 2019 Hypocrealean entomopathogenic fungi (HEF) produce a large variety of secondary metabolites (SMs) that are prominent virulence factors or mediate various interactions in the native niches of these organisms. Many of these SMs show insecticidal, immune system modulatory, antimicrobial, cytotoxic and other bioactivities of clinical or agricultural significance. Recent advances in whole genome sequencing technologies and bioinformatics have revealed many biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) potentially involved in SM production in HEF. Some of these BGCs are now well characterized, with the structures of the cognate product congeners elucidated, and the proposed biosynthetic functions of key enzymes validated. However, the vast majority of HEF BGCs are still not linked to SM products ("orphan" BGCs), including many clusters that are not expressed (silent) under routine laboratory conditions. Thus, investigations into the encoded parvome (the secondary metabolome predicted from the genome) of HEF allows the discovery of BGCs for known SMs; uncovers novel metabolites based on the BGCs; and catalogues the predicted SM biosynthetic potential of these fungi. Herein, we summarize new developments of the field, and survey the polyketide, nonribosomal peptide, terpenoid and hybrid SM BGCs encoded in the currently available 40 HEF genome sequences. Studying the encoded parvome of HEF will increase our understanding of the multifaceted roles that SMs play in biotic and abiotic interactions and will also reveal biologically active SMs that can be exploited for the discovery of human and veterinary drugs or crop protection agents.
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Affiliation(s)
- Liwen Zhang
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Qun Yue
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Chen Wang
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - Yuquan Xu
- Biotechnology Research Institute, The Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, 12 Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing 100081, P. R. China.
| | - István Molnár
- Southwest Center for Natural Products Research, University of Arizona, 250 E. Valencia Rd., Tucson, AZ 85706, USA.
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15
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Montaño López J, Duran L, Avalos JL. Physiological limitations and opportunities in microbial metabolic engineering. Nat Rev Microbiol 2021; 20:35-48. [PMID: 34341566 DOI: 10.1038/s41579-021-00600-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 06/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Metabolic engineering can have a pivotal role in increasing the environmental sustainability of the transportation and chemical manufacturing sectors. The field has already developed engineered microorganisms that are currently being used in industrial-scale processes. However, it is often challenging to achieve the titres, yields and productivities required for commercial viability. The efficiency of microbial chemical production is usually dependent on the physiological traits of the host organism, which may either impose limitations on engineered biosynthetic pathways or, conversely, boost their performance. In this Review, we discuss different aspects of microbial physiology that often create obstacles for metabolic engineering, and present solutions to overcome them. We also describe various instances in which natural or engineered physiological traits in host organisms have been harnessed to benefit engineered metabolic pathways for chemical production.
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Affiliation(s)
- José Montaño López
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - Lisset Duran
- Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA
| | - José L Avalos
- Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. .,Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. .,Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA. .,Princeton Environmental Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA.
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16
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Aghdam SA, Brown AMV. Deep learning approaches for natural product discovery from plant endophytic microbiomes. ENVIRONMENTAL MICROBIOME 2021; 16:6. [PMID: 33758794 PMCID: PMC7972023 DOI: 10.1186/s40793-021-00375-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2020] [Accepted: 02/21/2021] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Plant microbiomes are not only diverse, but also appear to host a vast pool of secondary metabolites holding great promise for bioactive natural products and drug discovery. Yet, most microbes within plants appear to be uncultivable, and for those that can be cultivated, their metabolic potential lies largely hidden through regulatory silencing of biosynthetic genes. The recent explosion of powerful interdisciplinary approaches, including multi-omics methods to address multi-trophic interactions and artificial intelligence-based computational approaches to infer distribution of function, together present a paradigm shift in high-throughput approaches to natural product discovery from plant-associated microbes. Arguably, the key to characterizing and harnessing this biochemical capacity depends on a novel, systematic approach to characterize the triggers that turn on secondary metabolite biosynthesis through molecular or genetic signals from the host plant, members of the rich 'in planta' community, or from the environment. This review explores breakthrough approaches for natural product discovery from plant microbiomes, emphasizing the promise of deep learning as a tool for endophyte bioprospecting, endophyte biochemical novelty prediction, and endophyte regulatory control. It concludes with a proposed pipeline to harness global databases (genomic, metabolomic, regulomic, and chemical) to uncover and unsilence desirable natural products. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40793-021-00375-0.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiva Abdollahi Aghdam
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 2901 Main St, Lubbock, TX 79409 USA
| | - Amanda May Vivian Brown
- Department of Biological Sciences, Texas Tech University, 2901 Main St, Lubbock, TX 79409 USA
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17
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Atanasov AG, Zotchev SB, Dirsch VM, Supuran CT. Natural products in drug discovery: advances and opportunities. Nat Rev Drug Discov 2021; 20:200-216. [PMID: 33510482 PMCID: PMC7841765 DOI: 10.1038/s41573-020-00114-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1678] [Impact Index Per Article: 559.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 11/12/2020] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
Natural products and their structural analogues have historically made a major contribution to pharmacotherapy, especially for cancer and infectious diseases. Nevertheless, natural products also present challenges for drug discovery, such as technical barriers to screening, isolation, characterization and optimization, which contributed to a decline in their pursuit by the pharmaceutical industry from the 1990s onwards. In recent years, several technological and scientific developments - including improved analytical tools, genome mining and engineering strategies, and microbial culturing advances - are addressing such challenges and opening up new opportunities. Consequently, interest in natural products as drug leads is being revitalized, particularly for tackling antimicrobial resistance. Here, we summarize recent technological developments that are enabling natural product-based drug discovery, highlight selected applications and discuss key opportunities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atanas G Atanasov
- Institute of Genetics and Animal Biotechnology of the Polish Academy of Sciences, Jastrzebiec, Poland.
- Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
- Institute of Neurobiology, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia, Bulgaria.
- Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Digital Health and Patient Safety, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
| | - Sergey B Zotchev
- Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Verena M Dirsch
- Department of Pharmacognosy, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Claudiu T Supuran
- Università degli Studi di Firenze, NEUROFARBA Dept, Sezione di Scienze Farmaceutiche, Florence, Italy.
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18
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Chiang YM, Lin TS, Chang SL, Ahn G, Wang CCC. An Aspergillus nidulans Platform for the Complete Cluster Refactoring and Total Biosynthesis of Fungal Natural Products. ACS Synth Biol 2021; 10:173-182. [PMID: 33375785 DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.0c00536] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Fungal natural products (NPs) comprise a vast number of bioactive molecules with diverse activities, and among them are many important drugs. However, the yields of fungal NPs from native producers are usually low, and total synthesis of structurally complex NPs is challenging. As such, downstream derivatization and optimization of lead fungal NPs can be impeded by the high cost of obtaining sufficient starting material. In recent years, reconstitution of NP biosynthetic pathways in heterologous hosts has become an attractive alternative approach to produce complex NPs. Here, we present an efficient, cloning-free strategy for the cluster refactoring and total biosynthesis of fungal NPs in Aspergillus nidulans. Our platform places our genes of interest (GOIs) under the regulation of the robust asperfuranone afo biosynthesis gene machinery, allowing for their concerted activation upon induction. We demonstrated the utility of our system by creating strains that can synthesize high-value NPs, citreoviridin (1), mutilin (2), and pleuromutilin (3), with good to high yield and purity. This platform can be used not only for producing NPs of interests (i.e., total biosynthesis) but also for elucidating cryptic biosynthesis pathways.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Ming Chiang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
- Department of Pharmacy, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 71710, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Tzu-Shyang Lin
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Shu-Lin Chang
- Department of Cosmetic Science, Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, Tainan 71710, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Green Ahn
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
| | - Clay C C Wang
- Department of Pharmacology and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Dornsife College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, United States
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19
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An efficient genetic transformation system for Chinese medicine fungus Tolypocladium ophioglossoides. J Microbiol Methods 2020; 176:106032. [PMID: 32805368 DOI: 10.1016/j.mimet.2020.106032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2019] [Revised: 07/26/2020] [Accepted: 07/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Tolypocladium ophioglossoides is a rare and valuable fungus extensively used in Chinese medicine for relieving postmenopausal syndrome in women yet its bioactive molecules are unknown. To explore its molecular mechanisms, we have developed a reliable Agrobacterium-mediated transformation system using the selective marker: the chlorimuron ethyl-resistance gene sur. For this purpose, we firstly constructed a T-DNA binary vector system and then improved the transformation efficiency by optimizing conditional parameters including the Agrobacterium tumefaciens concentration, the conidia number of T. ophioglossoides, the co-culture time and the concentration of acetosyringone. Furthermore, we have knocked-out the ku70 gene,which is a key gene in non-homologous end joining (NHEJ) DNA repair pathway,and the effect of the length of the homologous arms (HA) on the genetic transformation efficacy was also examined, which increased by 60% when HA was about 3 kb in length. Our results suggest that the genetic transformation system is efficient and feasible for the truffle-parasite fungus T. ophioglossoides, which can further be used in large-scale experiments for characterization of genes of interest in future work.
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20
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Sampaio de Oliveira KB, Leite ML, Rodrigues GR, Duque HM, da Costa RA, Cunha VA, de Loiola Costa LS, da Cunha NB, Franco OL, Dias SC. Strategies for recombinant production of antimicrobial peptides with pharmacological potential. Expert Rev Clin Pharmacol 2020; 13:367-390. [PMID: 32357080 DOI: 10.1080/17512433.2020.1764347] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The need to develop new drugs for the control of pathogenic microorganisms has redoubled efforts to prospect for antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) from natural sources and to characterize its structure and function. These molecules present a broad spectrum of action against different microorganisms and frequently present promiscuous action, with anticancer and immunomodulatory activities. Furthermore, AMPs can be used as biopharmaceuticals in the treatment of hospital-acquired infections and other serious diseases with relevant social and economic impacts.Areas covered: The low yield and the therefore difficult extraction and purification process in AMPs are problems that limit their industrial application and scientific research. Thus, optimized heterologous expression systems were developed to significantly boost AMP yields, allow high efficiency in purification and structural optimization for the increase of therapeutic activity.Expert opinion: This review provides an update on recent developments in the recombinant production of ribosomal and non-ribosomal synthesis of AMPs and on strategies to increase the expression of genes encoding AMPs at the transcriptional and translational levels and regulation of the post-translational modifications. Moreover, there are detailed reports of AMPs that have already reached marketable status or are in the pipeline under advanced stages of preclinical testing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamila Botelho Sampaio de Oliveira
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Michel Lopes Leite
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Gisele Regina Rodrigues
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Harry Morales Duque
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Rosiane Andrade da Costa
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Victor Albuquerque Cunha
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Lorena Sousa de Loiola Costa
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Nicolau Brito da Cunha
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil
| | - Octavio Luiz Franco
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil.,Universidade de Brasília, Pós-graduação em Patologia Molecular, Campus Darcy Ribeiro , Brasília, Brazil.,S-Inova Biotech, Pós-graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco , Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil
| | - Simoni Campos Dias
- Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília , Brasília, Brazil.,Universidade de Brasília, Pós-graduação em Biologia Animal, Campus Darcy Ribeiro , Brasília, Brazil
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21
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Sadahiro Y, Kato H, Williams RM, Tsukamoto S. Irpexine, an Isoindolinone Alkaloid Produced by Coculture of Endophytic Fungi, Irpex lacteus and Phaeosphaeria oryzae. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2020; 83:1368-1373. [PMID: 32301614 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c00047] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A new isoindolinone alkaloid, irpexine (1), was isolated as a racemate, along with a known green pigment, hypoxyxylerone (2), from the coculture of two endophytic fungi, Irpex lacteus and Phaeosphaeria oryzae. Compound 1 was found to be a newly produced metabolite of I. lacteus in the coculture with P. oryzae. Although 2 was produced in a monoculture of I. lacteus, its production was markedly enhanced by the coculture.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yusaku Sadahiro
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan
| | - Hikaru Kato
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan
| | - Robert M Williams
- Department of Chemistry, Colorado State University, 301 West Pitkin Street, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, United States
- University of Colorado Cancer Center, Aurora, Colorado 80045, United States
| | - Sachiko Tsukamoto
- Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto 862-0973, Japan
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22
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Markina NM, Kotlobay AA, Tsarkova AS. Heterologous Metabolic Pathways: Strategies for Optimal Expression in Eukaryotic Hosts. Acta Naturae 2020; 12:28-39. [PMID: 32742725 PMCID: PMC7385092 DOI: 10.32607/actanaturae.10966] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2020] [Accepted: 04/29/2020] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Heterologous pathways are linked series of biochemical reactions occurring in a host organism after the introduction of foreign genes. Incorporation of metabolic pathways into host organisms is a major strategy used to increase the production of valuable secondary metabolites. Unfortunately, simple introduction of the pathway genes into the heterologous host in most cases does not result in successful heterologous expression. Extensive modification of heterologous genes and the corresponding enzymes on many different levels is required to achieve high target metabolite production rates. This review summarizes the essential techniques used to create heterologous biochemical pathways, with a focus on the key challenges arising in the process and the major strategies for overcoming them.
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Affiliation(s)
- N. M. Markina
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997 Russia
- Planta LLC, Moscow, 121205 Russia
| | - A. A. Kotlobay
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997 Russia
| | - A. S. Tsarkova
- Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, 117997 Russia
- Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University, Moscow, 117997 Russia
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23
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Xu K, Yuan XL, Li C, Li XD. Recent Discovery of Heterocyclic Alkaloids from Marine-Derived Aspergillus Species. Mar Drugs 2020; 18:E54. [PMID: 31947564 PMCID: PMC7024353 DOI: 10.3390/md18010054] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/27/2019] [Revised: 01/10/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Nitrogen heterocycles have drawn considerable attention due to of their significant biological activities. The marine fungi residing in extreme environments are among the richest sources of these basic nitrogen-containing secondary metabolites. As one of the most well-known universal groups of filamentous fungi, marine-derived Aspergillus species produce a large number of structurally unique heterocyclic alkaloids. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive summary of the structural diversity and biological activities of heterocyclic alkaloids that are produced by marine-derived Aspergillus species. Herein, a total of 130 such structures that were reported from the beginning of 2014 through the end of 2018 are included, and 75 references are cited in this review, which will benefit future drug development and innovation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kuo Xu
- Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China; (K.X.); (X.-L.Y.)
| | - Xiao-Long Yuan
- Tobacco Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Qingdao 266101, China; (K.X.); (X.-L.Y.)
| | - Chen Li
- Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China;
- Key Laboratory of marine biotechnology in Universities of Shandong (Ludong University), School of Life Sciences, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
| | - Xiao-Dong Li
- Yantai Institute of Coastal Zone Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Yantai 264003, China;
- Key Laboratory of marine biotechnology in Universities of Shandong (Ludong University), School of Life Sciences, Ludong University, Yantai 264025, China
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24
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Xiang P, Ludwig-Radtke L, Yin WB, Li SM. Isocoumarin formation by heterologous gene expression and modification by host enzymes. Org Biomol Chem 2020; 18:4946-4948. [DOI: 10.1039/d0ob00989j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
The polyketide synthase product was converted to its methylated and hydroxylated derivatives by host endogenous enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pan Xiang
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie
- Philipps-Universität Marburg
- 35037 Marburg
- Germany
| | - Lena Ludwig-Radtke
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie
- Philipps-Universität Marburg
- 35037 Marburg
- Germany
| | - Wen-Bing Yin
- State Key Laboratory of Mycology
- Institute of Microbiology
- Chinese Academy of Sciences
- Beijing 100101
- China
| | - Shu-Ming Li
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie
- Philipps-Universität Marburg
- 35037 Marburg
- Germany
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25
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Villena GK, Kitazono AA, Hernández-Macedo M L. Bioengineering Fungi and Yeast for the Production of Enzymes, Metabolites, and Value-Added Compounds. Fungal Biol 2020. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-41870-0_9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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26
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Transcriptional heterologous expression of two type III PKS from the lichen Cladonia uncialis. Mycol Prog 2019. [DOI: 10.1007/s11557-019-01539-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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27
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Heterologous expression of intact biosynthetic gene clusters in Fusarium graminearum. Fungal Genet Biol 2019; 132:103248. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2019.103248] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/01/2019] [Revised: 06/27/2019] [Accepted: 06/27/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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28
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Vassaux A, Meunier L, Vandenbol M, Baurain D, Fickers P, Jacques P, Leclère V. Nonribosomal peptides in fungal cell factories: from genome mining to optimized heterologous production. Biotechnol Adv 2019; 37:107449. [PMID: 31518630 DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2019.107449] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 12/15/2022]
Abstract
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.
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Affiliation(s)
- Antoine Vassaux
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Microbial Processes and Interactions, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, B5030 Gembloux, Belgium; Univ. Lille, INRA, ISA, Univ. Artois, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, EA 7394-ICV-Institut Charles Viollette, F-59000 Lille, France
| | - Loïc Meunier
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Microbial Processes and Interactions, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, B5030 Gembloux, Belgium; InBioS-PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, University of Liege, Boulevard du Rectorat 27, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Micheline Vandenbol
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Microbiologie et Génomique, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, B5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - Denis Baurain
- InBioS-PhytoSYSTEMS, Eukaryotic Phylogenomics, University of Liege, Boulevard du Rectorat 27, B-4000 Liège, Belgium
| | - Patrick Fickers
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Microbial Processes and Interactions, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, B5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - Philippe Jacques
- TERRA Teaching and Research Centre, Microbial Processes and Interactions, Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liege, Avenue de la Faculté d'Agronomie, B5030 Gembloux, Belgium
| | - Valérie Leclère
- Univ. Lille, INRA, ISA, Univ. Artois, Univ. Littoral Côte d'Opale, EA 7394-ICV-Institut Charles Viollette, F-59000 Lille, France.
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29
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Kjærbølling I, Mortensen UH, Vesth T, Andersen MR. Strategies to establish the link between biosynthetic gene clusters and secondary metabolites. Fungal Genet Biol 2019; 130:107-121. [DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2019.06.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2018] [Revised: 05/26/2019] [Accepted: 06/02/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
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30
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Zhang JJ, Tang X, Moore BS. Genetic platforms for heterologous expression of microbial natural products. Nat Prod Rep 2019; 36:1313-1332. [PMID: 31197291 PMCID: PMC6750982 DOI: 10.1039/c9np00025a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 86] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Covering: 2005 up to 2019Natural products are of paramount importance in human medicine. Not only are most antibacterial and anticancer drugs derived directly from or inspired by natural products, many other branches of medicine, such as immunology, neurology, and cardiology, have similarly benefited from natural product-based drugs. Typically, the genetic material required to synthesize a microbial specialized product is arranged in a multigene biosynthetic gene cluster (BGC), which codes for proteins associated with molecule construction, regulation, and transport. The ability to connect natural product compounds to BGCs and vice versa, along with ever-increasing knowledge of biosynthetic machineries, has spawned the field of genomics-guided natural product genome mining for the rational discovery of new chemical entities. One significant challenge in the field of natural product genome mining is how to rapidly link orphan biosynthetic genes to their associated chemical products. This review highlights state-of-the-art genetic platforms to identify, interrogate, and engineer BGCs from diverse microbial sources, which can be broken into three stages: (1) cloning and isolation of genomic loci, (2) heterologous expression in a host organism, and (3) genetic manipulation of cloned pathways. In the future, we envision natural product genome mining will be rapidly accelerated by de novo DNA synthesis and refactoring of whole biosynthetic pathways in combination with systematic heterologous expression methodologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jia Jia Zhang
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
| | - Xiaoyu Tang
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA.
| | - Bradley S Moore
- Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA. and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA
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Davy AM, Kildegaard HF, Andersen MR. Cell Factory Engineering. Cell Syst 2019; 4:262-275. [PMID: 28334575 DOI: 10.1016/j.cels.2017.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 70] [Impact Index Per Article: 14.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2015] [Revised: 11/11/2016] [Accepted: 02/15/2017] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Rational approaches to modifying cells to make molecules of interest are of substantial economic and scientific interest. Most of these efforts aim at the production of native metabolites, expression of heterologous biosynthetic pathways, or protein expression. Reviews of these topics have largely focused on individual strategies or cell types, but collectively they fall under the broad umbrella of a growing field known as cell factory engineering. Here we condense >130 reviews and key studies in the art into a meta-review of cell factory engineering. We identified 33 generic strategies in the field, all applicable to multiple types of cells and products, and proven successful in multiple major cell types. These apply to three major categories: production of native metabolites and/or bioactives, heterologous expression of biosynthetic pathways, and protein expression. This meta-review provides general strategy guides for the broad range of applications of rational engineering of cell factories.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne Mathilde Davy
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Helene Faustrup Kildegaard
- The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Mikael Rørdam Andersen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby, Denmark.
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Kindinger F, Nies J, Becker A, Zhu T, Li SM. Genomic Locus of a Penicillium crustosum Pigment as an Integration Site for Secondary Metabolite Gene Expression. ACS Chem Biol 2019; 14:1227-1234. [PMID: 31141338 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.9b00164] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/12/2022]
Abstract
Heterologous expression of secondary metabolite genes and gene clusters has been proven to be a successful strategy for identification of new natural products of cryptic or silent genes hidden in the genome sequences. It is also a useful tool to produce designed compounds by synthetic biology approaches. In this study, we demonstrate the potential usage of the gene locus pcr4401 in the fast-growing filamentous fungus Penicillium crustosum as an integration site for heterologous gene expression. The deduced polyketide synthase (PKS) Pcr4401 is involved in the dihydroxynaphthalene (DHN)-melanin pigment formation, and its deletion in P. crustosum PRB-2 led to an albino phenotype. Heterologous expression of pcr4401 in Aspergillus nidulans proved its function as the melanin precursor YWA1 synthase. To ensure gene expression after genomic integration and to easily identify the potential transformants by visualization, the gene locus of pcr4401 was chosen as an integration site. For heterologous expression in P. crustosum, the expression constructs were created by ligation-independent homologous recombination in Escherichia coli or Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A pyrG deficient strain was also created, so that both the pyrG and hph resistance gene can be used as selection markers. Successful expression in P. crustosum was demonstrated by using one uncharacterized PKS gene from Aspergillus and two from Penicillium strains. All three genes were successfully introduced, heterologously expressed, and their biosynthetic products elucidated. The results presented in this study demonstrated that P. crustosum can be used as a suitable host for heterologous expression of secondary metabolite genes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Florian Kindinger
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Robert-Koch-Straße 4, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Jonas Nies
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Robert-Koch-Straße 4, 35037 Marburg, Germany
| | - Anke Becker
- LOEWE Zentrum für Synthetische Mikrobiologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Straße, 35032 Marburg, Germany
| | - Tianjiao Zhu
- Ocean University of China, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Chinese Ministry of Education, Yushan Road 5, 266003 Qingdao, China
| | - Shu-Ming Li
- Institut für Pharmazeutische Biologie und Biotechnologie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Robert-Koch-Straße 4, 35037 Marburg, Germany
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Bertrand RL, Sorensen JL. Lost in Translation: Challenges with Heterologous Expression of Lichen Polyketide Synthases. ChemistrySelect 2019. [DOI: 10.1002/slct.201901762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
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Abdel-Hameed ME, Bertrand RL, Donald LJ, Sorensen JL. Lichen ketosynthase domains are not responsible for inoperative polyketide synthases in Ascomycota hosts. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 2018; 503:1228-1234. [DOI: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2018.07.029] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2018] [Accepted: 07/06/2018] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
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Ben Mefteh F, Daoud A, Chenari Bouket A, Thissera B, Kadri Y, Cherif-Silini H, Eshelli M, Alenezi FN, Vallat A, Oszako T, Kadri A, Ros-García JM, Rateb ME, Gharsallah N, Belbahri L. Date Palm Trees Root-Derived Endophytes as Fungal Cell Factories for Diverse Bioactive Metabolites. Int J Mol Sci 2018; 19:ijms19071986. [PMID: 29986518 PMCID: PMC6073733 DOI: 10.3390/ijms19071986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/19/2018] [Revised: 06/29/2018] [Accepted: 07/05/2018] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Endophytic fungi of healthy and brittle leaf diseased (BLD) date palm trees (Phoenix dactylifera L.) represent a promising source of bioactive compounds with biomedical, industrial, and pharmaceutical applications. The fungal endophytes Penicillium citrinum isolate TDPEF34, and Geotrichum candidum isolate TDPEF20 from healthy and BLD date palm trees, respectively, proved very effective in confrontation assays against three pathogenic bacteria, including two Gram-positive bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) and Enterococcus faecalis (Ef), and one Gram-negative bacterium Salmonella enterica (St). They also inhibited the growth of three fungi Trichoderma sp. (Ti), Fusarium sporotrichioides (Fs), Trichoderma sp. (Ts). Additionally, their volatile organic compounds (VOCs) were shown to be in part responsible for the inhibition of Ti and Ts and could account for the full inhibition of Fs. Therefore, we have explored their potential as fungal cell factories for bioactive metabolites production. Four extracts of each endophyte were prepared using different solvent polarities, ethanol (EtOH), ethyl acetate (EtOAc), hexane (Hex), and methanol (MetOH). Both endophyte species showed varying degrees of inhibition of the bacterial and fungal pathogens according to the solvent used. These results suggest a good relationship between fungal bioactivities and their produced secondary metabolites. Targeting the discovery of potential anti-diabetic, anti-hemolysis, anti-inflammatory, anti-obesity, and cytotoxic activities, endophytic extracts showed promising results. The EtOAc extract of G. candidum displayed IC50 value comparable to the positive control diclofenac sodium in the anti-inflammatory assays. Antioxidant activity was evaluated using α,α-diphenyl-β-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), β-carotene bleaching, reducing power (RP), and 2,2-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonique) (ABTS) radical scavenging assays. The findings revealed strong anti-oxidant power with an IC50 of 177.55 µg/mL for G. candidum EtOAc extract using DPPH assay, probably due to high polyphenol and flavonoid content in both fungal extracts. Finally, LC-HRMS (Liquid Chromatography–High Resolution Mass Spectrometry) and GC-MS (Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry) analysis of G. candidum and P. citrinum extracts revealed an impressive arsenal of compounds with previously reported biological activities, partly explaining the obtained results. Finally, LC-HRMS analysis indicated the presence of new fungal metabolites that have never been reported, which represent good candidates to follow for the discovery of new bioactive molecules.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fedia Ben Mefteh
- Faculty of Science, B.P. 1171, 3000, University of Sfax, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - Amal Daoud
- Faculty of Science, B.P. 1171, 3000, University of Sfax, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - Ali Chenari Bouket
- Plant Protection Research Department, East Azarbaijan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center, AREEO, 5153715898 Tabriz, Iran.
| | - Bathini Thissera
- School of Science and Sport, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK.
| | - Yamina Kadri
- Labroratory of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Sciences of Sfax, University of Sfax,95, 3052 Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - Hafsa Cherif-Silini
- Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, Ferhat Abbas University, 19000 Setif, Algeria.
| | - Manal Eshelli
- School of Science and Sport, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK.
- Department of Food Science & Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Tripoli, 13275 Tripoli, Libya.
| | | | - Armelle Vallat
- Neuchâtel Platform of Analytical Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry, University of Neuchâtel, 2000 Neuchâtel, Switzerland.
| | | | - Adel Kadri
- Faculty of Science, B.P. 1171, 3000, University of Sfax, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - José María Ros-García
- Department of Food Science & Technology and Human Nutrition, University of Murcia, 30100 Murcia, Spain.
| | - Mostafa E Rateb
- School of Science and Sport, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley PA1 2BE, UK.
| | - Neji Gharsallah
- Faculty of Science, B.P. 1171, 3000, University of Sfax, 3029 Sfax, Tunisia.
| | - Lassaad Belbahri
- NextBiotech, 98 Rue Ali Belhouane, 3030 Agareb, Tunisia.
- Laboratory of Soil Biology, University of Neuchatel, 2000 Neuchatel, Switzerland.
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Chandra Mohana N, Yashavantha Rao H, Rakshith D, Mithun P, Nuthan B, Satish S. Omics based approach for biodiscovery of microbial natural products in antibiotic resistance era. J Genet Eng Biotechnol 2018; 16:1-8. [PMID: 30647697 PMCID: PMC6296576 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgeb.2018.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/10/2017] [Revised: 01/25/2018] [Accepted: 01/30/2018] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
The need for a new antibiotic pipeline to confront threat imposed by resistant pathogens has become a major global concern for human health. To confront the challenge there is a need for discovery and development of new class of antibiotics. Nature which is considered treasure trove, there is re-emerged interest in exploring untapped microbial to yield novel molecules, due to their wide array of negative effects associated with synthetic drugs. Natural product researchers have developed many new techniques over the past few years for developing diverse compounds of biopotential. Taking edge in the advancement of genomics, genetic engineering, in silico drug design, surface modification, scaffolds, pharmacophores and target-based approach is necessary. These techniques have been economically sustainable and also proven efficient in natural product discovery. This review will focus on recent advances in diverse discipline approach from integrated Bioinformatics predictions, genetic engineering and medicinal chemistry for the synthesis of natural products vital for the discovery of novel antibiotics having potential application.
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Affiliation(s)
- N. Chandra Mohana
- Microbial Drugs Laboratory, Department of Studies in Microbiology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India
| | - H.C. Yashavantha Rao
- Microbial Drugs Laboratory, Department of Studies in Microbiology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India
| | - D. Rakshith
- Microbial Drugs Laboratory, Department of Studies in Microbiology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India
| | - P.R. Mithun
- Department of Life Sciences, Christ University, Bengaluru 560029, Karnataka, India
| | - B.R. Nuthan
- Microbial Drugs Laboratory, Department of Studies in Microbiology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India
| | - S. Satish
- Microbial Drugs Laboratory, Department of Studies in Microbiology, Manasagangotri, University of Mysore, Mysore 570006, Karnataka, India
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Robey MT, Ye R, Bok JW, Clevenger KD, Islam MN, Chen C, Gupta R, Swyers M, Wu E, Gao P, Thomas PM, Wu CC, Keller NP, Kelleher NL. Identification of the First Diketomorpholine Biosynthetic Pathway Using FAC-MS Technology. ACS Chem Biol 2018; 13:1142-1147. [PMID: 29631395 DOI: 10.1021/acschembio.8b00024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
Filamentous fungi are prolific producers of secondary metabolites with drug-like properties, and their genome sequences have revealed an untapped wealth of potential therapeutic leads. To better access these secondary metabolites and characterize their biosynthetic gene clusters, we applied a new platform for screening and heterologous expression of intact gene clusters that uses fungal artificial chromosomes and metabolomic scoring (FAC-MS). We leverage FAC-MS technology to identify the biosynthetic machinery responsible for production of acu-dioxomorpholine, a metabolite produced by the fungus, Aspergilllus aculeatus. The acu-dioxomorpholine nonribosomal peptide synthetase features a new type of condensation domain (designated CR) proposed to use a noncanonical arginine active site for ester bond formation. Using stable isotope labeling and MS, we determine that a phenyllactate monomer deriving from phenylalanine is incorporated into the diketomorpholine scaffold. Acu-dioxomorpholine is highly related to orphan inhibitors of P-glycoprotein targets in multidrug-resistant cancers, and identification of the biosynthetic pathway for this compound class enables genome mining for additional derivatives.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew T. Robey
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Rosa Ye
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Jin Woo Bok
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Kenneth D. Clevenger
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Md Nurul Islam
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Cynthia Chen
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Raveena Gupta
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Michael Swyers
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Edward Wu
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Peng Gao
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Paul M. Thomas
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
| | - Chengcang C. Wu
- Intact
Genomics,
Inc., St Louis, Missouri 63132, United States
| | - Nancy P. Keller
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, United States
| | - Neil L. Kelleher
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, United States
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38
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He Y, Wang B, Chen W, Cox RJ, He J, Chen F. Recent advances in reconstructing microbial secondary metabolites biosynthesis in Aspergillus spp. Biotechnol Adv 2018; 36:739-783. [DOI: 10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2017] [Revised: 01/30/2018] [Accepted: 02/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
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Bertrand RL, Abdel-Hameed M, Sorensen JL. Lichen Biosynthetic Gene Clusters Part II: Homology Mapping Suggests a Functional Diversity. JOURNAL OF NATURAL PRODUCTS 2018; 81:732-748. [PMID: 29485282 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.7b00770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Lichens are renowned for their diverse natural products though little is known of the genetic programming dictating lichen natural product biosynthesis. We sequenced the genome of Cladonia uncialis and profiled its secondary metabolite biosynthetic gene clusters. Through a homology searching approach, we can now propose specific functions for gene products as well as the biosynthetic pathways that are encoded in several of these gene clusters. This analysis revealed that the lichen genome encodes the required enzymes for patulin and betaenones A-C biosynthesis, fungal toxins not known to be produced by lichens. Within several gene clusters, some (but not all) genes are genetically similar to genes devoted to secondary metabolite biosynthesis in Fungi. These lichen clusters also contain accessory tailoring genes without such genetic similarity, suggesting that the encoded tailoring enzymes perform distinct chemical transformations. We hypothesize that C. uncialis gene clusters have evolved by shuffling components of ancestral fungal clusters to create new series of chemical steps, leading to the production of hitherto undiscovered derivatives of fungal secondary metabolites.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert L Bertrand
- Department of Chemistry , University of Manitoba , Winnipeg , Manitoba Canada , R3T 2N2
| | - Mona Abdel-Hameed
- Department of Chemistry , University of Manitoba , Winnipeg , Manitoba Canada , R3T 2N2
| | - John L Sorensen
- Department of Chemistry , University of Manitoba , Winnipeg , Manitoba Canada , R3T 2N2
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Yoshimi A, Yamaguchi S, Fujioka T, Kawai K, Gomi K, Machida M, Abe K. Heterologous Production of a Novel Cyclic Peptide Compound, KK-1, in Aspergillus oryzae. Front Microbiol 2018; 9:690. [PMID: 29686660 PMCID: PMC5900794 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.00690] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/15/2017] [Accepted: 03/23/2018] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
A novel cyclic peptide compound, KK-1, was originally isolated from the plant-pathogenic fungus Curvularia clavata. It consists of 10 amino acid residues, including five N-methylated amino acid residues, and has potent antifungal activity. Recently, the genome-sequencing analysis of C. clavata was completed, and the biosynthetic genes involved in KK-1 production were predicted by using a novel gene cluster mining tool, MIDDAS-M. These genes form an approximately 75-kb cluster, which includes nine open reading frames, containing a non-ribosomal peptide synthetase (NRPS) gene. To determine whether the predicted genes were responsible for the biosynthesis of KK-1, we performed heterologous production of KK-1 in Aspergillus oryzae by introduction of the cluster genes into the genome of A. oryzae. The NRPS gene was split in two fragments and then reconstructed in the A. oryzae genome, because the gene was quite large (approximately 40 kb). The remaining seven genes in the cluster, excluding the regulatory gene kkR, were simultaneously introduced into the strain of A. oryzae in which NRPS had already been incorporated. To evaluate the heterologous production of KK-1 in A. oryzae, gene expression was analyzed by RT-PCR and KK-1 productivity was quantified by HPLC. KK-1 was produced in variable quantities by a number of transformed strains, along with expression of the cluster genes. The amount of KK-1 produced by the strain with the greatest expression of all genes was lower than that produced by the original producer, C. clavata. Therefore, expression of the cluster genes is necessary and sufficient for the heterologous production of KK-1 in A. oryzae, although there may be unknown factors limiting productivity in this species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Akira Yoshimi
- ABE-Project, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | | | | | | | - Katsuya Gomi
- Laboratory of Bioindustrial Genomics, Department of Bioindustrial Informatics and Genomics, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
| | - Masayuki Machida
- Bioproduction Research Institute, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tsukuba, Japan
| | - Keietsu Abe
- ABE-Project, New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- Laboratory of Applied Microbiology, Department of Microbial Biotechnology, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
- Department of Microbial Resources, Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
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Efficient oligo nucleotide mediated CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing in Aspergilli. Fungal Genet Biol 2018; 115:78-89. [PMID: 29325827 DOI: 10.1016/j.fgb.2018.01.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 108] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/26/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/06/2018] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
CRISPR-Cas9 technologies are revolutionizing fungal gene editing. Here we show that survival of specific Cas9/sgRNA mediated DNA double strand breaks (DSBs) depends on the non-homologous end-joining, NHEJ, DNA repair pathway and we use this observation to develop a tool, TAPE, to assess protospacer efficiency in Aspergillus nidulans. Moreover, we show that in NHEJ deficient strains, highly efficient marker-free gene targeting can be performed. Indeed, we show that even single-stranded oligo nucleotides efficiently work as repair templates of specific Cas9/sgRNA induced DNA DSBs in A. nidulans, A. niger, and in A. oryzae indicating that this type of repair may be wide-spread in filamentous fungi. Importantly, we demonstrate that by using single-stranded oligo nucleotides for CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing it is possible to introduce specific point mutations as well gene deletions at efficiencies approaching 100%. The efficiency of the system invites for multiplexing and we have designed a vector system with the capacity of delivering Cas9 and multiple sgRNAs based on polymerase III promoters and tRNA spacers. We show that it is possible to introduce two point mutations and one gene insertion in one transformation experiment with a very high efficiency. Our system is compatible with future high-throughput gene-editing experiments.
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Identification of Enzymes Involved in Sesterterpene Biosynthesis in Marine Fungi. Methods Enzymol 2018; 604:441-498. [DOI: 10.1016/bs.mie.2018.04.023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
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Geib E, Brock M. ATNT: an enhanced system for expression of polycistronic secondary metabolite gene clusters in Aspergillus niger. Fungal Biol Biotechnol 2017; 4:13. [PMID: 29270299 PMCID: PMC5735947 DOI: 10.1186/s40694-017-0042-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2017] [Accepted: 12/12/2017] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Fungi are treasure chests for yet unexplored natural products. However, exploitation of their real potential remains difficult as a significant proportion of biosynthetic gene clusters appears silent under standard laboratory conditions. Therefore, elucidation of novel products requires gene activation or heterologous expression. For heterologous gene expression, we previously developed an expression platform in Aspergillus niger that is based on the transcriptional regulator TerR and its target promoter PterA. Results In this study, we extended this system by regulating expression of terR by the doxycycline inducible Tet-on system. Reporter genes cloned under the control of the target promoter PterA remained silent in the absence of doxycycline, but were strongly expressed when doxycycline was added. Reporter quantification revealed that the coupled system results in about five times higher expression rates compared to gene expression under direct control of the Tet-on system. As production of secondary metabolites generally requires the expression of several biosynthetic genes, the suitability of the self-cleaving viral peptide sequence P2A was tested in this optimised expression system. P2A allowed polycistronic expression of genes required for Asp-melanin formation in combination with the gene coding for the red fluorescent protein tdTomato. Gene expression and Asp-melanin formation was prevented in the absence of doxycycline and strongly induced by addition of doxycycline. Fluorescence studies confirmed the correct subcellular localisation of the respective enzymes. Conclusion This tightly regulated but strongly inducible expression system enables high level production of secondary metabolites most likely even those with toxic potential. Furthermore, this system is compatible with polycistronic gene expression and, thus, suitable for the discovery of novel natural products. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40694-017-0042-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elena Geib
- Fungal Genetics and Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
| | - Matthias Brock
- Fungal Genetics and Biology, School of Life Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham, NG7 2RD UK
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44
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Madhavan A, Pandey A, Sukumaran RK. Expression system for heterologous protein expression in the filamentous fungus Aspergillus unguis. BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY 2017; 245:1334-1342. [PMID: 28578805 DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2017.05.140] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/31/2017] [Revised: 05/19/2017] [Accepted: 05/21/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Heterologous protein expression in filamentous fungi is advantageous, especially in the context of large scale production of high volume low value recombinant proteins. However, such systems are rare and not available in public domain. A novel filamentous fungus - Aspergillus unguis NII 08123 was used as host for developing a protein expression system. An expression cassette was assembled using A. nidulans glyceraldehyde 3 phosphate dehydrogenase promoter (Pgapd), tryptophan synthase transcription terminator (TtrpC) and hygromycin resistance gene (hph) as selection marker. The enhanced green fluorescent protein (GFP) gene from Aequorea victoria was used as the model test protein for the evaluation of the expression system. The genetic transformation of this novel fungus was optimized through electroporation. Use of heterologous signal peptides resulted in high levels of secreted expression. The fungal host-expression system combination was tested successfully for the expression of the recombinant therapeutic protein-human interferon beta (HuIFNβ).
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Affiliation(s)
- Aravind Madhavan
- Microbial Processes and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram 695 019, India
| | - Ashok Pandey
- Microbial Processes and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram 695 019, India; Center of Innovative and Applied Bioprocessing, Mohali 160 071, Punjab, India
| | - Rajeev K Sukumaran
- Microbial Processes and Technology Division, National Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSIR, Thiruvananthapuram 695 019, India.
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Andersen-Ranberg J, Kongstad KT, Nafisi M, Staerk D, Okkels FT, Mortensen UH, Lindberg Møller B, Frandsen RJN, Kannangara R. Synthesis of C-Glucosylated Octaketide Anthraquinones in Nicotiana benthamiana by Using a Multispecies-Based Biosynthetic Pathway. Chembiochem 2017; 18:1893-1897. [PMID: 28719729 DOI: 10.1002/cbic.201700331] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/21/2017] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Carminic acid is a C-glucosylated octaketide anthraquinone and the main constituent of the natural dye carmine (E120), possessing unique coloring, stability, and solubility properties. Despite being used since ancient times, longstanding efforts to elucidate its route of biosynthesis have been unsuccessful. Herein, a novel combination of enzymes derived from a plant (Aloe arborescens, Aa), a bacterium (Streptomyces sp. R1128, St), and an insect (Dactylopius coccus, Dc) that allows for the biosynthesis of the C-glucosylated anthraquinone, dcII, a precursor for carminic acid, is reported. The pathway, which consists of AaOKS, StZhuI, StZhuJ, and DcUGT2, presents an alternative biosynthetic approach for the production of polyketides by using a type III polyketide synthase (PKS) and tailoring enzymes originating from a type II PKS system. The current study showcases the power of using transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana for efficient and rapid identification of functional biosynthetic pathways, including both soluble and membrane-bound enzymes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johan Andersen-Ranberg
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- Present address: Department of Plant Microbial Biology, University of California Berkeley, 441 Koshland Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3102, USA
| | - Kenneth Thermann Kongstad
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Majse Nafisi
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Alle 10-12, 2970, Hørsholm, Denmark
| | - Dan Staerk
- Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Universitetsparken 2, 2100, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Finn Thyge Okkels
- Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Alle 10-12, 2970, Hørsholm, Denmark
- Present address: ActaBio ApS, Kongemarken 11, 4000, Roskilde, Denmark
| | - Uffe Hasbro Mortensen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Building 221 and 223, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Birger Lindberg Møller
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
| | - Rasmus John Normand Frandsen
- Department of Biotechnology and Biomedicine, Technical University of Denmark, Søltofts Plads, Building 221 and 223, 2800, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
| | - Rubini Kannangara
- Plant Biochemistry Laboratory, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg, Denmark
- Chr. Hansen A/S, Bøge Alle 10-12, 2970, Hørsholm, Denmark
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Clevenger KD, Bok JW, Ye R, Miley GP, Verdan MH, Velk T, Chen C, Yang K, Robey MT, Gao P, Lamprecht M, Thomas PM, Islam MN, Palmer JM, Wu CC, Keller NP, Kelleher NL. A scalable platform to identify fungal secondary metabolites and their gene clusters. Nat Chem Biol 2017; 13:895-901. [PMID: 28604695 PMCID: PMC5577364 DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2408] [Citation(s) in RCA: 121] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2016] [Accepted: 03/13/2017] [Indexed: 12/02/2022]
Abstract
The genomes of filamentous fungi contain up to 90 biosynthetic gene clusters (BGCs) encoding diverse secondary metabolites-an enormous reservoir of untapped chemical potential. However, the recalcitrant genetics, cryptic expression, and unculturability of these fungi prevent scientists from systematically exploiting these gene clusters and harvesting their products. As heterologous expression of fungal BGCs is largely limited to the expression of single or partial clusters, we established a scalable process for the expression of large numbers of full-length gene clusters, called FAC-MS. Using fungal artificial chromosomes (FACs) and metabolomic scoring (MS), we screened 56 secondary metabolite BGCs from diverse fungal species for expression in Aspergillus nidulans. We discovered 15 new metabolites and assigned them with confidence to their BGCs. Using the FAC-MS platform, we extensively characterized a new macrolactone, valactamide A, and its hybrid nonribosomal peptide synthetase-polyketide synthase (NRPS-PKS). The ability to regularize access to fungal secondary metabolites at an unprecedented scale stands to revitalize drug discovery platforms with renewable sources of natural products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kenneth D Clevenger
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Jin Woo Bok
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Rosa Ye
- Intact Genomics, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri, USA
| | - Galen P Miley
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Maria H Verdan
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Thomas Velk
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | | | - KaHoua Yang
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Matthew T Robey
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | - Peng Gao
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Paul M Thomas
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
| | | | - Jonathan M Palmer
- Center for Forest Mycology Research, Northern Research Station, US Forest Service, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | | | - Nancy P Keller
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology and Department of Bacteriology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA
| | - Neil L Kelleher
- Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Proteomics Center of Excellence, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, USA
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Dhakal D, Sohng JK. Coalition of Biology and Chemistry for Ameliorating Antimicrobial Drug Discovery. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:734. [PMID: 28522993 PMCID: PMC5415603 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00734] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2017] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Dipesh Dhakal
- Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Sun Moon UniversityAsan-si, South Korea
| | - Jae Kyung Sohng
- Department of Life Science and Biochemical Engineering, Sun Moon UniversityAsan-si, South Korea.,Department of BT-Convergent Pharmaceutical Engineering, Sun Moon UniversityAsan-si, South Korea
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Penicillium arizonense, a new, genome sequenced fungal species, reveals a high chemical diversity in secreted metabolites. Sci Rep 2016; 6:35112. [PMID: 27739446 PMCID: PMC5064400 DOI: 10.1038/srep35112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2016] [Accepted: 09/26/2016] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
A new soil-borne species belonging to the Penicillium section Canescentia is described, Penicillium arizonense sp. nov. (type strain CBS 141311T = IBT 12289T). The genome was sequenced and assembled into 33.7 Mb containing 12,502 predicted genes. A phylogenetic assessment based on marker genes confirmed the grouping of P. arizonense within section Canescentia. Compared to related species, P. arizonense proved to encode a high number of proteins involved in carbohydrate metabolism, in particular hemicellulases. Mining the genome for genes involved in secondary metabolite biosynthesis resulted in the identification of 62 putative biosynthetic gene clusters. Extracts of P. arizonense were analysed for secondary metabolites and austalides, pyripyropenes, tryptoquivalines, fumagillin, pseurotin A, curvulinic acid and xanthoepocin were detected. A comparative analysis against known pathways enabled the proposal of biosynthetic gene clusters in P. arizonense responsible for the synthesis of all detected compounds except curvulinic acid. The capacity to produce biomass degrading enzymes and the identification of a high chemical diversity in secreted bioactive secondary metabolites, offers a broad range of potential industrial applications for the new species P. arizonense. The description and availability of the genome sequence of P. arizonense, further provides the basis for biotechnological exploitation of this species.
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Silber J, Kramer A, Labes A, Tasdemir D. From Discovery to Production: Biotechnology of Marine Fungi for the Production of New Antibiotics. Mar Drugs 2016; 14:md14070137. [PMID: 27455283 PMCID: PMC4962027 DOI: 10.3390/md14070137] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2016] [Revised: 07/06/2016] [Accepted: 07/12/2016] [Indexed: 02/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Filamentous fungi are well known for their capability of producing antibiotic natural products. Recent studies have demonstrated the potential of antimicrobials with vast chemodiversity from marine fungi. Development of such natural products into lead compounds requires sustainable supply. Marine biotechnology can significantly contribute to the production of new antibiotics at various levels of the process chain including discovery, production, downstream processing, and lead development. However, the number of biotechnological processes described for large-scale production from marine fungi is far from the sum of the newly-discovered natural antibiotics. Methods and technologies applied in marine fungal biotechnology largely derive from analogous terrestrial processes and rarely reflect the specific demands of the marine fungi. The current developments in metabolic engineering and marine microbiology are not yet transferred into processes, but offer numerous options for improvement of production processes and establishment of new process chains. This review summarises the current state in biotechnological production of marine fungal antibiotics and points out the enormous potential of biotechnology in all stages of the discovery-to-development pipeline. At the same time, the literature survey reveals that more biotechnology transfer and method developments are needed for a sustainable and innovative production of marine fungal antibiotics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Johanna Silber
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Marine Natural Products Chemistry Research Unit, GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Am Kiel-Kanal 44, Kiel 24106, Germany.
| | - Annemarie Kramer
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Marine Natural Products Chemistry Research Unit, GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Am Kiel-Kanal 44, Kiel 24106, Germany.
| | - Antje Labes
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Marine Natural Products Chemistry Research Unit, GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Am Kiel-Kanal 44, Kiel 24106, Germany.
| | - Deniz Tasdemir
- GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, Marine Natural Products Chemistry Research Unit, GEOMAR Centre for Marine Biotechnology (GEOMAR-Biotech), Am Kiel-Kanal 44, Kiel 24106, Germany.
- Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Kiel, Christian-Albrechts-Platz 4, Kiel 24118, Germany.
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Fisch KM, Schäberle TF. Toolbox for Antibiotics Discovery from Microorganisms. Arch Pharm (Weinheim) 2016; 349:683-91. [DOI: 10.1002/ardp.201600064] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/09/2016] [Revised: 05/23/2016] [Accepted: 05/27/2016] [Indexed: 11/07/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Katja M. Fisch
- Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität Bonn; Bonn Germany
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