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Sadre R. Plant synthetic biology for human health: advances in producing medicines in heterologous expression systems. Curr Opin Biotechnol 2024; 87:103142. [PMID: 38735192 DOI: 10.1016/j.copbio.2024.103142] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/14/2024]
Abstract
Plant synthetic biology has the capability to provide solutions to global challenges in the production and supply of medicines. Recent advances in 'omics' technologies have accelerated gene discoveries in medicinal plant research so that even multistep biosynthetic pathways for bioactive plant natural products with high structural complexity can be reconstituted in heterologous plant expression systems more rapidly. This review provides an overview of concept and strategies used to produce high-value plant natural products in heterologous plant systems and highlights recent successes in engineering the biosynthesis of conventional and new medicines in alternative plant hosts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Radin Sadre
- Pelotonia Research Center, Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, the Ohio State University, 2255 Kenny Rd, Columbus, OH 43210, USA.
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Dror MJ, Misa J, Yee DA, Chu AM, Yu RK, Chan BB, Aoyama LS, Chaparala AP, O'Connor SE, Tang Y. Engineered biosynthesis of plant heteroyohimbine and corynantheine alkaloids in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 2024; 51:kuad047. [PMID: 38140980 PMCID: PMC10995622 DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuad047] [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: 11/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/21/2023] [Indexed: 12/24/2023]
Abstract
Monoterpene indole alkaloids (MIAs) are a class of natural products comprised of thousands of structurally unique bioactive compounds with significant therapeutic values. Due to difficulties associated with isolation from native plant species and organic synthesis of these structurally complex molecules, microbial production of MIAs using engineered hosts are highly desired. In this work, we report the engineering of fully integrated Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains that allow de novo access to strictosidine, the universal precursor to thousands of MIAs at 30-40 mg/L. The optimization efforts were based on a previously reported yeast strain that is engineered to produce high titers of the monoterpene precursor geraniol through compartmentalization of mevalonate pathway in the mitochondria. Our approaches here included the use of CRISPR-dCas9 interference to identify mitochondria diphosphate transporters that negatively impact the titer of the monoterpene, followed by genetic inactivation; the overexpression of transcriptional regulators that increase cellular respiration and mitochondria biogenesis. Strain construction included the strategic integration of genes encoding both MIA biosynthetic and accessory enzymes into the genome under a variety of constitutive and inducible promoters. Following successful de novo production of strictosidine, complex alkaloids belonging to heteroyohimbine and corynantheine families were reconstituted in the host with introduction of additional downstream enzymes. We demonstrate that the serpentine/alstonine pair can be produced at ∼5 mg/L titer, while corynantheidine, the precursor to mitragynine can be produced at ∼1 mg/L titer. Feeding of halogenated tryptamine led to the biosynthesis of analogs of alkaloids in both families. Collectively, our yeast strain represents an excellent starting point to further engineer biosynthetic bottlenecks in this pathway and to access additional MIAs and analogs through microbial fermentation. ONE SENTENCE SUMMARY An Saccharomyces cerevisiae-based microbial platform was developed for the biosynthesis of monoterpene indole alkaloids, including the universal precursor strictosidine and further modified heteroyohimbine and corynantheidine alkaloids.
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Affiliation(s)
- Moriel J Dror
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Joshua Misa
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Danielle A Yee
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Angela M Chu
- Stanford Genome Technology Center, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305, USA
| | - Rachel K Yu
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Molecular Cell and Developmental Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Bradley B Chan
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Lauren S Aoyama
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Anjali P Chaparala
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
| | - Sarah E O'Connor
- Department of Natural Product Biosynthesis, Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology, Jena 07745, Germany
| | - Yi Tang
- Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
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