Functional production of mammalian concentrative nucleoside transporters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The transport of nucleosides and nucleobases in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is reviewed and the use of this organism to study recombinant mammalian concentrative nucleoside transport (CNT) proteins is described. A selection strategy based on the ability of an expressed nucleoside transporter cDNA to mediate thymidine uptake by yeast under a selective condition that depletes endogenous thymidylate was used to assess the transport capacity of heterologous transporter proteins. The pyrimidine-nucleoside selective concentrative transporters from human (hCNT1) and rat (rCNT1) complemented the imposed thymidylate depletion in S. cerevisiae, as did N-terminally truncated versions of hCNT1 and rCNT1 lacking up to 31 amino acids. Transporter-mediated rescue of S. cerevisiae by both nucleoside transporters was inhibited by cytidine, uridine and adenosine, but not by guanosine or inosine. This work represents the development of a new model system for the functional production of recombinant nucleoside transporters of the CNT family of membrane proteins.     

Fluorescence based assay of GAL system in yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The GAL1 promoter is one of the strongest inducible promoters in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. In order to improve recombinant protein production we have developed a fluorescence based method for screening and evaluating the contribution of various gene deletions to protein expression from the GAL1 promoter. The level of protein synthesis was determined in 28 selected mutant strains simultaneously, by direct measurement of fluorescence in living cells using a microplate reader. The highest, 2.4-fold increase in GFP production was observed in a gal1 mutant strain. Deletion of GAL80 caused a 1.3-fold increase in fluorescence relative to the isogenic strain. GAL3, GAL4 and MTH1 gene deletion completely abrogated GFP synthesis. Growth of gal7, gal10 and gal3 also exhibited reduced fitness in galactose medium. Other genetic perturbations affected the GFP expression level only moderately. The fluorescence based method proved to be useful for screening genes involved in GAL1 promoter regulation and provides insight into more efficient manipulation of the GAL system.     

Candida albicans UBI3 and UBI4 promoter regions confer differential regulation of invertase production to Saccharomyces cerevisiae cells in response to stress

Candida albicans ubiquitin genes UBI3 and UBI4 encode a ubiquitin-hybrid protein involved in ribosome biogenesis and polyubiquitin, respectively. In this work we show that UBI3 and UBI4 promoter regions confer differential expression consistent with the function of their encoded gene products. Hybrid genes were constructed containing the SUC2 coding region under the control of UBI3 or UBI4 promoters in the yeast vector pLC7. Invertase production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae transformants was differentially regulated: the UBI4 promoter was induced by stress conditions (thermal upshift and/or starvation) whereas the UBI3 promoter conferred constitutive invertase production in growing yeast cells. These results indicate that the UBI4 promoter is regulated by stress-response signaling pathways, whereas the UBI3 promoter is controlled according to the requirement for protein synthesis to support cell growth. Electronic Publication     

Overexpression of a sterol C-24(28) reductase increases ergosterol production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Three plasmids, pHX4, pHXA4 and pHXC4, containing sterol C-24(28) reductase gene (ERG4) under the control of ERG4, ADH1 or CUP1 promoters, respectively, and the copper resistance gene as the selection marker were constructed, and they were then introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Ergosterol production in recombinant strains was enhanced. Under the optimal culture condition, ergosterol content in recombinant strains YEH56(pHX4), YEH56(pHXA4) and YEH56(pHXC4) was 1.2, 1.4 and 1.5-fold (47 mg g^–1) of that in the original strain.     

Systems for applied gene control in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Saccharomyces cerevisiae is frequently used in biotechnology, including fermentative processes in food production, heterologous protein production and high throughput developments for biomedicine. Accurate expression of selected genes is essential for all these areas. Systems that can be regulated are particularly useful because they allow controlling the timing and levels of gene expression. We examine here new expression systems that have been described, including improvements of classical ones and new strategies of artificial gene control that have been applied in functional genomics.     

酿酒酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae重组菌株木糖醇发酵的初步研究

木糖还原酶催化木糖为木糖醇的反应,是木糖代谢的第一步。将木糖还原酶的原因ＸＹＬ１引入酿酒酵母中,构建得到儿表达ＸＹＬ１基因的重组酿酒酵母菌株ＨＹＥＸ２,该重组菌株的木糖还原酶比活力为７．４７Ｕ／ｍｇ。研究表明,该菌株获得转化木糖产生木糖醇的能力,当辅助碳源葡萄糖的浓度为２％,并在发酵３０ｈ左右添加木糖,木糖醇的转化率可达到０．９７ｇ／ｇ。     

Production of ethanol from L-arabinose by Saccharomyces cerevisiae containing a fungal L-arabinose pathway

The fungal pathway for L-arabinose catabolism converts L-arabinose to D-xylulose 5-phosphate in five steps. The intermediates are, in this order: L-arabinitol, L-xylulose, xylitol and D-xylulose. Only some of the genes for the corresponding enzymes were known. We have recently identified the two missing genes for L-arabinitol 4-dehydrogenase and L-xylulose reductase and shown that overexpression of all the genes of the pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae enables growth on L-arabinose. Under anaerobic conditions ethanol is produced from L-arabinose, but at a very low rate. The reasons for the low rate of L-arabinose fermentation are discussed.     

Exploiting the NADPH pool for xylitol production using recombinant Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Xylitol is a five-carbon sugar alcohol that has a variety of uses in the food and pharmaceutical industries. In xylose assimilating yeasts, NAD(P)H-dependent xylose reductase (XR) catalyzes the reduction of xylose to xylitol. In the present study, XR with varying cofactor specificities was overexpressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to screen for efficient xylitol production. Xylose consumption and xylitol yields were higher when NADPH-dependent enzymes (Candida tropicalis XR and S. cerevisiae Gre3p aldose reductase) were expressed, indicating that heterologous enzymes can utilize the intracellular NADPH pool more efficiently than the NADH pool, where they may face competition from native enzymes. This was confirmed by overexpression of a NADH-preferring C. tropicalis XR mutant, which led to decreased xylose consumption and lower xylitol yield. To increase intracellular NADPH availability for xylitol production, the promoter of the ZWF1 gene, coding for the first enzyme of the NADPH-generating pentose phosphate pathway, was replaced with the constitutive GPD promoter in a strain expressing C. tropicalis XR. This change led to a ~12% increase in xylitol yield. Deletion of XYL2 and SOR1, whose gene products can use xylitol as substrate, did not further increase xylitol yield. Using wheat stalk hydrolysate as source of xylose, the constructed strain efficiently produced xylitol, demonstrating practical relevance of this approach.     

Heterologous expression of fungal cytochromes P450 (CYP5136A1 and CYP5136A3) from the white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium: Functionalization with cytochrome b5 in Escherichia coli

Cytochromes P450 from the white-rot basidiomycete Phanerochaete chrysosporium, CYP5136A1 and CYP5136A3, are capable of catalyzing oxygenation reactions of a wide variety of exogenous compounds, implying their significant roles in the metabolism of xenobiotics by the fungus. It is therefore interesting to explore their biochemistry to better understand fungal biology and to enable the use of fungal enzymes in the biotechnology sector. In the present study, we developed heterologous expression systems for CYP5136A1 and CYP5136A3 using the T7 RNA polymerase/promoter system in Escherichia coli. Expression levels of recombinant P450s were dramatically improved by modifications and optimization of their N-terminal amino acid sequences. A CYP5136A1 reaction system was reconstructed in E. coli whole cells by coexpression of CYP5136A1 and a redox partner, NADPH-dependent P450 reductase (CPR). The catalytic activity of CYP5136A1 was significantly increased when cytochrome b₅ (Cyt-b₅) was further coexpressed with CPR, indicating that Cyt-b₅ supports electron transfer reactions from NAD(P)H to CYP5136A1. Notably, P450 reaction occurred in E. coli cells that harbored CYP5136A1 and Cyt-b₅ but not CPR, implying that the reducing equivalents required for the P450 catalytic cycle were transferred via a CPR-independent pathway. Such an “alternative” electron transfer system in CYP5136A1 reaction was also demonstrated using purified enzymes in vitro. The fungal P450 reaction system may be associated with sophisticated electron transfer pathways.     

Overproduction of Geranylgeraniol by Metabolically Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae

(E, E, E)-Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) is a valuable starting material for perfumes and pharmaceutical products. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, GGOH is synthesized from the end products of the mevalonate pathway through the sequential reactions of farnesyl diphosphate synthetase (encoded by the ERG20 gene), geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase (the BTS1 gene), and some endogenous phosphatases. We demonstrated that overexpression of the diacylglycerol diphosphate phosphatase (DPP1) gene could promote GGOH production. We also found that overexpression of a BTS1-DPP1 fusion gene was more efficient for producing GGOH than coexpression of these genes separately. Overexpression of the hydroxymethylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase (HMG1) gene, which encodes the major rate-limiting enzyme of the mevalonate pathway, resulted in overproduction of squalene (191.9 mg liter⁻¹) rather than GGOH (0.2 mg liter⁻¹) in test tube cultures. Coexpression of the BTS1-DPP1 fusion gene along with the HMG1 gene partially redirected the metabolic flux from squalene to GGOH. Additional expression of a BTS1-ERG20 fusion gene resulted in an almost complete shift of the flux to GGOH production (228.8 mg liter⁻¹ GGOH and 6.5 mg liter⁻¹ squalene). Finally, we constructed a diploid prototrophic strain coexpressing the HMG1, BTS1-DPP1, and BTS1-ERG20 genes from multicopy integration vectors. This strain attained 3.31 g liter⁻¹ GGOH production in a 10-liter jar fermentor with gradual feeding of a mixed glucose and ethanol solution. The use of bifunctional fusion genes such as the BTS1-DPP1 and ERG20-BTS1 genes that code sequential enzymes in the metabolic pathway was an effective method for metabolic engineering.(E,E,E)-Geranylgeraniol (GGOH) can be used as an important ingredient for perfumes and as a desirable raw material for synthesizing vitamins A and E (4, 13). It is also known to induce apoptosis in various cancer and tumor cell lines (24, 36). GGOH is the dephosphorylated derivative of (E,E,E)-geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP) (Fig. ​(Fig.1).1). GGPP is a significant intermediate of ubiquinone and carotenoid biosyntheses, especially in carotenoid-producing microorganisms and plant cells. It is also utilized as the lipid anchor of geranylgeranylated proteins. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, GGPP is synthesized by GGPP synthase (GGPS), encoded by the BTS1 gene, which catalyzes the condensation of farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) and isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) rather than the successive addition of IPP molecules to dimethylallyl diphosphate, geranyl diphosphate, and FPP that is detected in mammalian tissues (14). Biologically synthesized GGOH comprises only (E,E,E)-geometric isomers, and only the (E,E,E)-isomers have significant biological activities (23). The chemically synthesized form is usually obtained as mixtures of (E)- and (Z)-isomers and thus has lower potency. Therefore, there is a greater possibility of attaining efficient production of (E,E,E)-GGOH through fermentative production.Open in a separate windowFIG. 1.Biosynthetic pathway for GGOH in S. cerevisiae. The solid arrows indicate the one-step conversions in the biosynthesis, and the dashed arrows indicate the several steps. Intermediates: HMG-CoA, 3-hydroxy-3-methylflutaryl coenzyme A; DMAPP, dimethylallyl diphosphate. Enzymes: HMG-R, HMG-coenzyme A reductase (encoded by the HMG1 gene); FPS, FPP synthase (ERG20).Some yeast strains accumulate ergosterol up to 4.6% dry mass (1). Thus, yeasts have the potential to produce large amounts of GGOH if it is possible to enhance and redirect the metabolic flux to GGOH synthesis. The enzyme 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMG-R), encoded by the HMG1 gene has been shown to be the major rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway in S. cerevisiae (12). Overproduction of the catalytic domain of HMG-R in an S. cerevisiae strain resulted in squalene accumulation of up to 1% (27) and 2% (8) dry mass but did not cause any difference in the contents of isoprenoid alcohols such as farnesol (FOH) and geraniol (27). These results suggest that squalene is preferably accumulated rather than GGOH when the mevalonate pathway is enhanced by overexpression of the HMG1 gene. Squalene is synthesized through the condensation of two molecules of FPP catalyzed by squalene synthase (SQS) encoded by the ERG9 gene in S. cerevisiae (Fig. ​(Fig.1).1). The addition of an SQS inhibitor to cultures of S. cerevisiae strains resulted in the production of considerable amounts of FOH (∼77.5 mg liter⁻¹) and relatively small amounts of GGOH (∼2.2 mg liter⁻¹) (20). It has also been reported that SQS-deficient (Δerg9) S. cerevisiae strains, which are sterol auxotrophic, accumulated FPP in their cells (35) and excreted 1.3 mg liter⁻¹ of FOH into the culture medium (5). Therefore, inactivation of SQS seems to enhance FOH rather than GGOH production. This is probably because of the low GGPS activity in S. cerevisiae. Indeed, a carotenoid-producing Rhodotorula yeast strain showed higher GGOH (24.4 mg liter⁻¹) than FOH (4.4 mg liter⁻¹) production on cultivation with an SQS inhibitor (20). Our group previously found that GGOH production could be enhanced by overexpression of the BTS1 gene in S. cerevisiae without SQS inhibition. In addition, coexpression of a fusion of the BTS1 and farnesyl diphosphate synthetase (ERG20) genes along with the HMG1 gene resulted in the production of a substantial amount of GGOH with only a small amount of FOH (C. Ohto, M. Muramatsu, E. Sakuradani, S. Shimizu, and S. Obata, submitted for publication).These results suggest that GGOH can be produced from GGPP through some endogenous phosphatase activities when GGPP synthesis is enhanced. We therefore hypothesized that enhancement of the phosphatase activity could increase the productivity of GGOH. However, it is not clear what kind of phosphatase enhances the GGOH production. It has been reported that the products of the diacylglycerol diphosphate phosphatase (DPP1) gene and lipid phosphate phosphatase (LPP1) gene account for most of the FPP and GGPP phosphatase activities in a particulate (membrane associated) fraction of S. cerevisiae (9). In this study, we found that GGOH production could be enhanced by overexpression of these phosphatase genes. We also demonstrated that overexpression of the BTS1-DPP1 and BTS1-ERG20 fusion genes along with the HMG1 gene further increased GGOH production. Finally, we constructed a high-level GGOH-producing yeast available for industrial processes involving multicopy integration vectors. The productivity of GGOH was evaluated in test tube cultures and 10-liter jar fermentors.     

真菌漆酶异源表达研究进展

由于漆酶能够氧化芳香类化合物和其它一些非芳香类有机物,具有广泛的底物特异性,因此在纸浆漂白、纺织品染料脱色、有毒废弃物的去除、生物修复和生物传感器等方面具有巨大的应用潜力。但是缺少大量廉价的酶源供应阻碍了漆酶商业化的应用,解决这个问题的一个主要方法就是通过漆酶的异源表达来获得大量的漆酶。综述了真菌漆酶在酵母表达系统和丝状真菌表达系统中表达的研究结果,着重总结了影响漆酶异源表达的因素和提高漆酶表达的策略。     

Heterologous expression of alcohol oxidase in Saccharomyces cerevisiae: properties of the enzyme and implications for microbody development

Alcohol oxidase (AO) expressed in transformed oleic acid-grown Saccharomyces cerevisiae, accumulated into microbodies to up to 8% of the total protein content of the organelles. This led to a small increase in volume fraction of the organelles, but not in their number. Most of the AO protein was present in large aggregates in the cytosol. The AO synthesized was inactive, irrespective of its subcellular localization and did not contain FAD. When the same AO gene was expressed in fused protoplasts of transformed S. cerevisiae and Hansenula polymorpha, the enzyme was properly assembled and activated in H. polymorpha microbodies.     

Production of the Artemisinin Precursor Amorpha-4,11-diene by Engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The gene encoding for amorpha-4,11-diene synthase from Artemisia annua was transformed into yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in two fundamentally different ways. First, the gene was subcloned into the galactose-inducible, high-copy number yeast expression vector pYeDP60 and used to transform the Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain CEN·PK113-5D. Secondly, amorpha-4,11-diene synthase gene, regulated by the same promoter, was introduced into the yeast genome by homologous recombination. In protein extracts from galactose-induced yeast cells, a higher activity was observed for yeast expressing the enzyme from the plasmid. The genome-transformed yeast grows at the same rate as wild-type yeast while plasmid-carrying yeast grows somewhat slower than the wild-type yeast. The plasmid and genome-transformed yeasts produced 600 and 100 μg/l of the artemisinin precursor amorpha-4,11-diene, respectively, during 16-days’ batch cultivation. Revisions requested 14 November 2005; Revisions received 17 January 2006     

Stepwise increase of thaxtomins production in Streptomyces albidoflavus J1074 through combinatorial metabolic engineering

Herbicide-resistance in weeds has become a serious threat to agriculture across the world. Thus, there is an urgent need for the discovery and development of herbicides with new modes of action. Thaxtomin phytotoxins are a group of nitrated diketopiperazines produced by potato common scab-causing phytopathogen Streptomyces scabies and other actinobacterial pathogens. They are generally considered to function as inhibitors of cellulose synthesis in plants, and thus have great potential to be used as natural herbicides. Generation of an overproducing strain is crucial for the scale-up production of thaxtomins and their wide use in agriculture. In the present study, we employed a stepwise strategy by combining heterologous expression, repressor deletion, activator overexpression, and optimization of fermentation media for high-level production of thaxtomins. The maximum yield of 728 mg/L thaxtomins was achieved with engineered Streptomyces albidoflavus J1074 strains in shake-flask cultures, and it was approximately 36-fold higher than S. albidoflavus J1074 carrying the unmodified cluster. Moreover, the yield of thaxtomins could reach 1973 mg/L when the engineered strain was cultivated in a small-scale stirred-tank bioreactor. This is the highest titer reported to date, representing a significant leap forward for the scale-up production of thaxtomins. Our study presents a robust, easy-to-use system that will be broadly useful for improving titers of bioactive compounds in many Streptomyces species.     

Engineered Yeasts as Reporter Systems for Odorant Detection

Abstract

The functional expression of olfactory receptors (ORs) is a primary requirement to utilize olfactory detection systems. We have taken advantage of the functional similarities between signal transduction cascades in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and mammalian cells. The yeast pheromone response pathway has been adapted to allow ligand‐dependent signaling of heterologous expressed G‐protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) via mammalian or chimeric yeast/mammalian Gα proteins. Two different strategies are reported here which offer a positive screen for functional pairs. The OR and Gα protein are introduced into the modified yeast cells such that they hijack the pheromone response pathway usually resulting in cell cycle arrest. The first strategy utilizes ligand‐induced expression of a FUS1‐HIS3 reporter gene to permit growth on a selective medium lacking histidine; the second to induce ligand‐dependent expression of a FUS1‐Hph reporter gene, conferring resistance to hygromycin. Validation of the systems was performed using the rat I7 receptor response to a range of aldehyde odorants previously characterized as functional ligands. Of these only heptanal produced a positive growth response in the concentration range 5 × 10^?8 to 5 × 10^?6 M. Induction conditions appear to be critical for functional expression, and the solvents of odorants have a toxic effect for the highest odorant concentrations. The preference of rat I7 receptor for the ligand heptanal in yeast has to be compared to concurrent results obtained with mammalian expression systems.     

Point mutation in calcium-binding domain of mouse polyomavirus VP1 protein does not prevent virus-like particle formation, but changes VP1 interactions with Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell structures

The mouse polyomavirus gene for the major structural protein, VP1, with point mutation in the calcium-binding pocket (VP1(Ala)), was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in a baculovirus expression system. Surprisingly, VP1(Ala) forms virus-like particles (VLPs) in nuclei of both yeast and insect cells. VP1(Ala)-VLPs produced in S. cerevisiae are unstable and, unlike wild-type VP1 (VP1(wt))-VLPs, they disassemble during the purification procedure and storage. In contrast to VP1(wt), VP1(Ala) does not interact with the yeast mitotic spindle. Nevertheless, both wild-type and mutated VP1 inhibit yeast cell growth. The inhibition is cAMP-dependent. The production of VP1(Ala) and VP1(wt)-VLPs in insect cells also revealed differences in their interactions with cellular protein(s). Thus, the mutation in the VP1 calcium pocket alters the stability and surface conformation of VLPs rather than the ability of VP1 to self-assemble.     

Co-expression of a mammalian accessory trafficking protein enables functional expression of the rat MCT1 monocarboxylate transporter in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

We have developed a new heterologous expression system for monocarboxylate transporters. The system is based on a Saccharomyces cerevisiae pyk1 mae1 jen1 triple-deletion strain that is auxotrophic for pyruvate and deficient in monocarboxylate uptake. Growth of the yeast cells on ethanol medium supplemented with pyruvate or lactate was dependent on the expression of a suitable monocarboxylate transporter. We have used the system to characterize the functional significance of interactions between the rat MCT1 transporter and its ancillary protein CD147. CD147 was shown to improve trafficking of MCT1 to the plasma membrane and its uptake activity. Our results demonstrate a new strategy for the production of properly folded and correctly targeted membrane proteins in a microbial expression system by co-expression of appropriate accessory proteins.     

Enhanced butanol production by eukaryotic Saccharomyces cerevisiae engineered to contain an improved pathway

Compared with ethanol, butanol has more advantageous physical properties as a fuel, and biobutanol is thus considered a promising biofuel material. Biobutanol has often been produced by Clostridium species; however, because they are strictly anaerobic microorganisms, these species are challenging to work with. We attempted to introduce the butanol production pathway into yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, which is a well-known microorganism that is tolerant to organic solvents. 1-Butanol was found to be produced at very low levels when the butanol production pathway of Clostridium acetobutylicum was simply introduced into S. cerevisiae. The elimination of glycerol production pathway in the yeast contributed to the enhancement of 1-butanol production. In addition, by the use of trans-enoyl-CoA reductase in the engineered pathway, 1-butanol production was markedly enhanced to yield 14.1 mg/L after 48 h of cultivation.