Production of bioactive ginsenosides Rh2 and Rg3 by metabolically engineered yeasts

Ginsenosides Rh2 and Rg3 represent promising candidates for cancer prevention and therapy and have low toxicity. However, the concentrations of Rh2 and Rg3 are extremely low in the bioactive constituents (triterpene saponins) of ginseng. Despite the available heterologous biosynthesis of their aglycone (protopanaxadiol, PPD) in yeast, production of Rh2 and Rg3 by a synthetic biology approach was hindered by the absence of bioparts to glucosylate the C3 hydroxyl of PPD. In this study, two UDP-glycosyltransferases (UGTs) were cloned and identified from Panax ginseng. UGTPg45 selectively transfers a glucose moiety to the C3 hydroxyl of PPD and its ginsenosides. UGTPg29 selectively transfers a glucose moiety to the C3 glucose of Rh2 to form a 1–2-glycosidic bond. Based on the two UGTs and a yeast chassis to produce PPD, yeast cell factories were built to produce Rh2 and/or Rg3 from glucose. The turnover number (k_cat) of UGTPg29 was more than 2500-fold that of UGTPg45, which might explain the higher Rg3 yield than that of Rh2 in the yeast cell factories. Building yeast cell factories to produce Rh2 or Rg3 from simple sugars by microbial fermentation provides an alternative approach to replace the traditional method of extracting ginsenosides from Panax plants.     

微生物脱氮过程中氧化亚氮的释放机理及减释措施

微生物脱氮是去除废水中含氮污染物质的重要方法,微生物的种类及其生存环境不同会导致其释放N_2O的途径及机理具有差异性。本文系统地综述了脱氮过程产生N_2O微生物的种类、特点及其释放N_2O的多重途径,综合分析了参与N_2O形成的相关酶类和影响N_2O释放的关键因素,同时,提出了减缓生物脱氮过程释放N_2O的相关措施,对未来脱氮工艺的优化与N_2O释放的控制提供新思路。