Dual cytoplasmic‐peroxisomal engineering for high‐yield production of sesquiterpene α‐humulene in Yarrowia lipolytica

Malaria is a global health problem that threatens 300-500 million people and kills more than one million people annually. Disease control is hampered by the occurrence of multi-drug-resistant strains of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Synthetic antimalarial drugs and malarial vaccines are currently being developed, but their efficacy against malaria awaits rigorous clinical testing. Artemisinin, a sesquiterpene lactone endoperoxide extracted from Artemisia annua L (family Asteraceae; commonly known as sweet wormwood), is highly effective against multi-drug-resistant Plasmodium spp., but is in short supply and unaffordable to most malaria sufferers. Although total synthesis of artemisinin is difficult and costly, the semi-synthesis of artemisinin or any derivative from microbially sourced artemisinic acid, its immediate precursor, could be a cost-effective, environmentally friendly, high-quality and reliable source of artemisinin. Here we report the engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce high titres (up to 100 mg l(-1)) of artemisinic acid using an engineered mevalonate pathway, amorphadiene synthase, and a novel cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP71AV1) from A. annua that performs a three-step oxidation of amorpha-4,11-diene to artemisinic acid. The synthesized artemisinic acid is transported out and retained on the outside of the engineered yeast, meaning that a simple and inexpensive purification process can be used to obtain the desired product. Although the engineered yeast is already capable of producing artemisinic acid at a significantly higher specific productivity than A. annua, yield optimization and industrial scale-up will be required to raise artemisinic acid production to a level high enough to reduce artemisinin combination therapies to significantly below their current prices.

Microbial oil production by heterotrophic organisms is a promising path for the cost-effective production of biofuels from renewable resources provided high conversion yields can be achieved. To this end, we have engineered the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica. We first established an expression platform for high expression using an intron-containing translation elongation factor-1α (TEF) promoter and showed that this expression system is capable of increasing gene expression 17-fold over the intronless TEF promoter. We then used this platform for the overexpression of diacylglycerol acyltransferase (DGA1), the final step of the triglyceride (TAG) synthesis pathway, which yielded a 4-fold increase in lipid production over control, to a lipid content of 33.8% of dry cell weight (DCW). We also show that the overexpression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC1), the first committed step of fatty acid synthesis, increased lipid content 2-fold over control, or 17.9% lipid content. Next we combined the two genes in a tandem gene construct for the simultaneous coexpression of ACC1 and DGA1, which further increased lipid content to 41.4%, demonstrating synergistic effects of ACC1+DGA1 coexpression. The lipid production characteristics of the ACC1+DGA1 transformant were explored in a 2-L bioreactor fermentation, achieving 61.7% lipid content after 120h. The overall yield and productivity were 0.195g/g and 0.143g/L/h, respectively, while the maximum yield and productivity were 0.270g/g and 0.253g/L/h during the lipid accumulation phase of the fermentation. This work demonstrates the excellent capacity for lipid production by the oleaginous yeast Y. lipolytica and the effects of metabolic engineering of two important steps of the lipid synthesis pathway, which acts to divert flux towards the lipid synthesis and creates driving force for TAG synthesis. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Harnessing lipogenic pathways and rewiring acyl-CoA and acyl-ACP (acyl carrier protein) metabolism in Yarrowia lipolytica hold great potential for cost-efficient production of diesel, gasoline-like fuels, and oleochemicals. Here we assessed various pathway engineering strategies in Y. lipolytica toward developing a yeast biorefinery platform for sustainable production of fuel-like molecules and oleochemicals. Specifically, acyl-CoA/acyl-ACP processing enzymes were targeted to the cytoplasm, peroxisome, or endoplasmic reticulum to generate fatty acid ethyl esters and fatty alkanes with tailored chain length. Activation of endogenous free fatty acids and the subsequent reduction of fatty acyl-CoAs enabled the efficient synthesis of fatty alcohols. Engineering a hybrid fatty acid synthase shifted the free fatty acids to a medium chain-length scale. Manipulation of alternative cytosolic acetyl-CoA pathways partially decoupled lipogenesis from nitrogen starvation and unleashed the lipogenic potential of Y. lipolytica Taken together, the strategies reported here represent promising steps to develop a yeast biorefinery platform that potentially upgrades low-value carbons to high-value fuels and oleochemicals in a sustainable and environmentally friendly manner.