谷氨酸棒状杆菌异源合成萜类化合物的研究进展

萜类化合物具有可观的商业价值,但生产过程复杂,产量低,利用微生物异源合成萜类化合物已成为热点。谷氨酸棒状杆菌内含合成萜类色素的途径,具有异源合成萜类化合物的天然优势和研究前景。首次对谷氨酸棒状杆菌合成萜类化合物进行了综述,从萜类合成途径、关键酶和全局调控机制三个方面进行了途经介绍。概述了谷氨酸棒状杆菌中单萜、倍半萜、四萜类化合物的异源合成,并对利用谷氨酸棒状杆菌高效合成萜类化合物所需解决的问题进行讨论,为谷氨酸棒状杆菌高效合成萜类化合物提供建议。     

植物萜类化合物的生物合成及应用

萜类化合物是植物中广泛存在的一类代谢产物,在植物生长、发育过程中起重要作用。植物中的萜类化合物有2条合成途径,即甲羟戊酸途径和甲基赤藓糖醇磷酸途径。这2条途径中都存在一系列调控萜类化合物生成、结构和功能各异的酶。植物萜类化合物不仅在植物生命活动中起重要作用,而且具有重要的商业价值,被广泛用于工业、医药卫生等领域。     

萜类合成酶定向进化的新思路

萜类化合物是天然产物中种类最多且主要存在于植物和微生物体内的一类化合物。随着越来越多具有应用价值的萜类化合物被挖掘,其应用前景引起了人们的关注,但由于含量低、提取成本高等缺点,因此制约了萜类化合物的广泛应用。合成生物学的兴起,为异源合成具有应用价值的萜类化合物提供了新思路,使构建定向、高效的微生物细胞工厂成为现实。萜类合成酶常作为萜类化合物异源合成代谢调控的靶酶,但天然的萜类合成酶存在催化效率低、底物专一性差、立体/区域选择性差、稳定性差等问题,严重影响萜类化合物的产量。萜类合成酶的定向进化可以有效地解决上述问题,为实现微生物细胞工厂异源、高效合成萜类化合物奠定基础。本文综述了近年来酶的定向进化技术的最新进展及应用,并提出了萜类合成酶定向进化的策略。     

植物类萜生物合成途径及关键酶的研究进展

萜类化合物是植物中广泛存在的一类代谢产物,在植物的生长、发育过程中起着重要的作用。植物中的萜类化合物有两条合成途径:甲羟戊酸途径和5-磷酸脱氧木酮糖/2C-甲基4-磷酸-4D-赤藓糖醇途径。这两条途径中都存在一系列调控萜类化合物生成、结构和功能各异的酶,其中关键酶的作用决定了下游萜类化合物的产量。植物类萜生物合成途径的调控以及该途径中关键酶的研究已成为目前国内外生物学领域的一大热点。综述了植物类萜生物合成途径和参与该途径的关键酶及其基因工程的研究进展,并展望了其应用前景。     

细胞区室化调控萜类化合物微生物合成

萜类化合物具有抗炎、抗氧化、抑制肿瘤细胞增殖等药学活性,在医药行业应用广泛。近年来,利用微生物合成萜类化合物受到广泛关注。在微生物中高效合成萜类化合物离不开代谢途径的调控与优化,其中细胞区室化是常用的调控策略之一,在微生物细胞工厂的构建中发挥着重要作用。代谢途径的细胞区室化具有许多优点,如增加酶和底物的局部浓度,抑制其向副产物转移和减少有毒中间体积累等,可实现萜类化合物的高效合成。近年来利用细胞区室化在微生物中合成萜类化合物的研究逐步展开,但目前对于区室化工程在构建细胞工厂中的应用总结较少。因此,围绕代谢途径区室化的作用,各种细胞器的生理特性及其在调控萜类化合物微生物合成中的应用进行了综述,讨论细胞区室化调控策略的发展、存在的问题及前景,以期为萜类化合物的高效微生物合成提供参考。     

代谢工程改造酿酒酵母合成植物萜类D-柠檬烯的策略

植物萜类化合物是以异戊二烯为结构单位的一大类植物天然的次生代谢产物。D-柠檬烯属于单萜类化合物,由于它具有抑菌、增香、抗癌、止咳、平喘等多种功能,已被广泛应用于食品、香料、医疗等行业。目前D-柠檬烯的工业生产主要是从植物的果皮或者果肉中提取的,但提取方法存在着分离纯化复杂、产率低、能耗大等缺点。而本世纪初合成生物学技术的兴起,为微生物异源合成天然活性化合物带来了全新的理念与工具,打破了物种间的界限,使微生物异源合成D-柠檬烯成为现实。构建定向、高效的异源合成D-柠檬烯的微生物细胞工厂,实现微生物发酵法替换传统的植物提取法,具有重要的经济与社会效益。本文主要回顾了近几年利用代谢工程改造酿酒酵母异源合成萜类化合物取得的成就,阐述了以酿酒酵母作为底盘微生物,利用代谢工程和合成生物学的手段构建高产D-柠檬烯的合成策略。     

酿酒酵母单萜合成的研究进展

萜类化合物是以异戊二烯为基本单元的一大类天然化合物,广泛存在于植物、微生物及昆虫中。其中,单萜类化合物主要用于高级香料及化妆品、食品添加剂、杀虫剂、除草剂和新型燃料等的生产,具有广泛的应用潜力。近年来,研究人员已构建出多种萜类化合物的酿酒酵母工程菌株,且通过代谢工程和合成生物学的方法有效提高了产品的产量。但是单萜的微生物合成却相对落后,其中前体供给不足及单萜对微生物毒性强等因素限制了其高效合成。主要从以下几个方面阐述了利用酿酒酵母合成单萜类化合物的目前研究进展:包括单萜合成酶在酿酒酵母中的表达,利用动态调控、蛋白质工程等策略增强酿酒酵母中前体香叶基焦磷酸的合成通量,减少单萜的内源性转化,提高酿酒酵母菌株对单萜的耐受性。在此基础上,结合本课题组的前期工作,针对微生物合成单萜过程中依然存在的瓶颈问题提出可能的解决策略,旨在为进一步优化酿酒酵母单萜合成细胞工厂提供参考。     

高效合成番茄红素酿酒酵母菌株的构建

番茄红素作为一种高附加价值的萜类化合物已受到国内外研究者的广泛关注。首先对酿酒酵母Saccharomyces cerevisiae模式菌株S288c和YPH499合成番茄红素的能力进行分析比较,结果表明YPH499更适合作为底盘细胞用于番茄红素的合成。随后比较组成型启动子GPDpr、TEF1pr和诱导型启动子GAL1pr、GAL10pr对番茄红素合成的影响,结果发现以GPDpr、TEF1pr作为番茄红素合成途径基因crtE、crt B和crtI的启动子,摇瓶发酵60 h后,番茄红素产量为15.31 mg/L;以GAL1pr和GAL10pr为启动子时,其产量为123.89 mg/L,提高8.09倍。继续改造甲羟戊酸(MVA)途径,过量表达N-末端截短的关键酶基因t HMG1(3-羟基-3-甲基戊二酸单酰辅酶A还原酶),番茄红素产量为265.68 mg/L,单位菌体产量72.79 mg/g。文中所设计构建的异源表达番茄红素合成途径的酿酒酵母菌株单位细胞产量高,可以进一步改造和优化后用于番茄红素的工业化生产。     

大肠杆菌异源合成三萜化合物研究进展和前景分析

三萜化合物具有可观的药用价值和经济价值,但是目前的生产过程复杂、产量低,利用微生物异源合成三萜化合物已成为当前研究趋势,大肠杆菌作为常用萜类合成底盘细胞具有异源合成三萜化合物及其前体的天然优势和研究前景。对三萜化合物微生物异源合成研究进展进行了综述,从三萜化合物合成代谢途径、关键酶的特点及大肠杆菌三萜表达模块和底盘细胞适配三个方面对该途径进行了阐述和分析,针对实现大肠杆菌高效合成三萜类化合物所需要解决的基础问题进行讨论,为扩展大肠杆菌作为三萜化合物合成底盘细胞提供建议和前景分析。     

高效合成倍半萜酿酒酵母的构建策略

倍半萜是具有较强香气和优良生物活性的萜类化合物,能用于香料、燃料和药物的合成。目前,工业上获取倍半萜的常见方法主要是化学合成以及植物提取。由于常见方法存在产率低、成本高和污染大等不可避免的问题,科研人员开始关注微生物合成倍半萜的相关研究,并且以酿酒酵母为宿主采用代谢工程、酶工程和合成生物学等方法构建了生产各种倍半萜的微生物细胞工厂。介绍和解析了酿酒酵母倍半萜合成途径。围绕乙酰辅酶A的积累、甲羟戊酸途径的强化和改造以及底物竞争途径的抑制三个方面,综述了改造和强化倍半萜合成途径的具体策略和相关实例。概述了近年来关于倍半萜合成酶的挖掘和突变研究进展。最后,针对如何进一步提高酿酒酵母合成倍半萜的效率提出展望与建议。     

Engineering a functional 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Isoprenoids are used in many commercial applications and much work has gone into engineering microbial hosts for their production. Isoprenoids are produced either from acetyl-CoA via the mevalonate pathway or from pyruvate and glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate via the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose 5-phosphate (DXP) pathway. Saccharomyces cerevisiae exclusively utilizes the mevalonate pathway to synthesize native isoprenoids and in fact the alternative DXP pathway has never been found or successfully reconstructed in the eukaryotic cytosol. There are, however, several advantages to isoprenoid synthesis via the DXP pathway, such as a higher theoretical yield, and it has long been a goal to transplant the pathway into yeast. In this work, we investigate and address barriers to DXP pathway functionality in S. cerevisiae using a combination of synthetic biology, biochemistry and metabolomics. We report, for the first time, functional expression of the DXP pathway in S. cerevisiae. Under low aeration conditions, an engineered strain relying solely on the DXP pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis achieved an endpoint biomass 80% of that of the same strain using the mevalonate pathway.     

Heterologous expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae of an Arabidopsis thaliana cDNA encoding mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase

Sequence comparison with the mevalonate diphosphate decarboxylase (MVD) amino acid sequence of Saccharomyces cerevisiae identified an EST clone corresponding to a cDNA that may encode Arabidopsis thaliana MVD (AtMVD1). This enzyme catalyses the synthesis of isopentenyl diphosphate, the building block of sterol and isoprenoid biosynthesis, and uses mevalonate diphosphate as a substrate. Sequencing of the full-length cDNA was performed. The predicted amino acid sequence presents about 55% identity with the yeast, human and rat MVDs. The sequence of the genomic region of A. thaliana MVD was also obtained and Southern blot analysis on genomic DNA showed that A. thaliana could have at least one homologous MVD gene. In order to allow heterologous expression in S. cerevisiae, the MVD open reading frame (ORF) was then cloned under the control of the yeast PMA1 strong promoter. When expressed in yeast, the A. thaliana cDNA complemented both the thermosensitive MN19-34 strain deficient in MVD, and the lethal phenotype of an ERG19 deleted strain. However, the wild-type sterol content was not fully restored suggesting that the A. thaliana MVD activity may not be optimal in yeast. A two-hybrid assay was also performed to evaluate homodimer formation of the A. thaliana MVD and heterodimer formation between the plant and yeast heterologous enzymes.     

Engineering of the pyruvate dehydrogenase bypass in Saccharomyces cerevisiae for high-level production of isoprenoids

Amorphadiene, a sesquiterpene precursor to the anti-malarial drug artemisinin, is synthesized by the cyclization of farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP). Saccharomyces cerevisiae produces FPP through the mevalonate pathway using acetyl-CoA as a starting compound. In order to enhance the supply of acetyl-CoA to the mevalonate pathway and achieve high-level production of amorphadiene, we engineered the pyruvate dehydrogenase bypass in S. cerevisiae. Overproduction of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase and introduction of a Salmonella enterica acetyl-CoA synthetase variant increased the carbon flux into the mevalonate pathway resulting in increased amorphadiene production. This work will be generally applicable to the production of a broad range of isoprenoids in yeast.     

Monoterpene regulation of Ras and Ras-related protein expression

Monoterpenes, derived primarily from plants, are products of the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway and function as chemical messengers with diverse functions. The biochemical bases for these activities are largely undefined. The Ras small GTPase superfamily of proteins consists of isoprenylated proteins that play key roles in signal transduction pathways known to regulate diverse cellular functions. In these studies, we have examined the effects of the monoterpenes on expression of Ras and Ras-related proteins, in the absence and presence of mevalonate depletion. Although prior studies have suggested that monoterpenes inhibit isoprenyl transferases, our studies clearly show that select monoterpenes inhibit up-regulation of Ras and the Ras-related proteins. A structure-activity relationship model for these effects was defined. The ability of monoterpenes to regulate the expression of the Ras-related proteins was found to be independent of effects on cell proliferation or total cellular protein synthesis/degradation. This regulatory function of monoterpenes suggests a role for these plant-derived compounds in altering signal transduction elements.     

Golf complements a GPA1 null mutation in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and functionally couples to the STE2 pheromone receptor

We have produced a plasmid designed for the expression of heterologous G protein alpha subunits in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Introduction of these genes is by simple cassette replacement using unique restriction sites, and their expression is controlled by the regulatory sequences of the S. cerevisiae GPA1 gene. Levels of expression are therefore suitable for interaction of these heterologous proteins with elements of the yeast pheromone response pathway. We believe that this plasmid will facilitate the coupling of more members of the seven transmembrane domain superfamily of receptors, through their native G protein alpha subunit, to the yeast pheromone response pathway. The plasmid pRGP, is a stable centromeric shuttle vector with a HIS3-selectable marker. We have demonstrated that production of GPA1 from this plasmid functionally complements a gpal1- null mutation. A similar response is obtained when an alternative G protein alpha subunit, G(olf), is introduced using pRGP. We believe that this is the first example of a heterologous G protein shown to couple to a yeast pheromone receptor.     

人工酵母后鲨烯路径基因对7-脱氢胆固醇合成的影响

酵母内源后鲨烯路径中的固醇类物质,是异源甾体类药物合成的重要前体。为了通过微调后鲨烯路径,与异源模块进行适配,以期达到提高异源甾体类化合物表达的目的,以维生素D₃的直接前体-7-脱氢胆固醇(7-DHC)的合成为例,首先在固醇C-24甲基转移酶(ERG6)缺失的酿酒酵母BY4742中,通过导入人源固醇C-24 还原酶DHCR24,并过表达截短的羟甲基戊二酰辅酶A还原酶tHMGR,获得可以合成7-DHC的人工酵母。在此基础上,将后鲨烯路径分割并构建成ERG1、ERG7、ERG11、ERG24-25-26-27和ERG2-3这5个模块,分别在所构建的7-DHC合成菌株中过表达。通过GC-TOF/MS分析7-DHC以及后鲨烯路径中相关代谢中间体的含量,并结合主成分分析发现,过表达不同后鲨烯模块会引起后鲨烯路径上固醇组分的变化而最终影响7-DHC的产量:与出发菌株相比,过表达ERG11模块会显著强化其他固醇物质到酵母固醇的转化;而过表达ERG2-3模块则会减少鲨烯的积累,同时显著增加羊毛固醇及其之后的固醇组分的含量,并获得迄今为止7-DHC在微生物中摇瓶水平的最高产量。因此,对ERG11和ERG2-3的表达优化对7-DHC的合成以及后鲨烯路径代谢流的强化起到了显著的作用,是后续优化人工7-DHC合成酵母的潜在靶点。为研究后鲨烯路径与其他异源甾体合成模块间的适配,提供了可供参考的案例。     

Heterologous expression of dihydroflavonol 4-reductases from various plants

Dihydroflavonol 4-reductases (DFR) catalyze the stereospecific reduction of dihydroflavonols to the respective flavan 3,4-diols (leucoanthocyanidins) and might also be involved in the reduction of flavanones to flavan-4-ols, which are important intermediates in the 3-deoxyflavonoid pathway. Several cDNA clones encoding DFR have been isolated from different plant species. Despite the important function of these enzymes in the flavonoid pathway, attempts at heterologous expression of cDNA clones in Escherichia coli have failed so far. Here, three well known heterologous expression systems for plant-derived genes were tested to obtain the functional protein of DFR from Gerbera hybrids. Successful synthesis of an active DFR enzyme was achieved in eukaryotic cells, using either baker's yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) or tobacco protoplasts (Nicotiana tabacum), transformed with expression vectors containing the open reading frame of Gerbera DFR. These expression systems provide useful and powerful tools for rapid biochemical characterization, in particular the substrate specificity, of the increasing number of cloned DFR sequences. Furthermore, this tool allows the stereospecific synthesis of (14)C-labeled leucoanthocyanidins in high quality and quantity, which is a prerequisite for detailed biochemical investigation of the less understood enzymatic reactions located downstream of DFR in anthocyanin, catechin and proanthocyanidin biosynthesis.     

Pathway engineering for functional isoprenoids

Pathway engineering is to engineer biosynthetic pathways for compounds of interests in heterologous organisms such as microbes and higher plants, which has also been one of the most important fields in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. This review focuses on pathway engineering researches for the production of functional isoprenoids containing monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, diterpenes, and triterpenes as well as carotenoids and for the elucidation of relevant biosynthesis genes and enzymes, which have been performed in the last two years. As microbial hosts, Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have often been employed, since they, specifically the former, are fully amenable to genetic manipulations with extensive molecular resources. Various crops have also been used as the hosts for engineering pathways of functional isoprenoids of the plant origin, particularly carotenoids.     

Machine-learning guided elucidation of contribution of individual steps in the mevalonate pathway and construction of a yeast platform strain for terpenoid production

The production of terpenoids from engineered microbes contributes markedly to the bioeconomy by providing essential medicines, sustainable materials, and renewable fuels. The mevalonate pathway leading to the synthesis of terpenoid precursors has been extensively targeted for engineering. Nevertheless, the importance of individual pathway enzymes to the overall pathway flux and final terpenoid yield is less known, especially enzymes that are thought to be non-rate-limiting. To investigate the individual contribution of the five non-rate-limiting enzymes in the mevalonate pathway, we created a combinatorial library of 243 Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains, each having an extra copy of the mevalonate pathway integrated into the genome and expressing the non-rate-limiting enzymes from a unique combination of promoters. High-throughput screening combined with machine learning algorithms revealed that the mevalonate kinase, Erg12p, stands out as the critical enzyme that influences product titer. ERG12 is ideally expressed from a medium-strength promoter which is the ‘sweet spot’ resulting in high product yield. Additionally, a platform strain was created by targeting the mevalonate pathway to both the cytosol and peroxisomes. The dual localization synergistically increased terpenoid production and implied that some mevalonate pathway intermediates, such as mevalonate, isopentyl pyrophosphate (IPP), and dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP), are diffusible across peroxisome membranes. The platform strain resulted in 94-fold, 60-fold, and 35-fold improved titer of monoterpene geraniol, sesquiterpene α-humulene, and triterpene squalene, respectively. The terpenoid platform strain will serve as a chassis for producing any terpenoids and terpene derivatives.