Alpha-Terpineol production from an engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell factory

Alpha-Terpineol (α-Terpineol), a C₁₀ monoterpenoid alcohol, is widely used in the cosmetic and pharmaceutical industries. Construction Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell factories for producing monoterpenes offers a promising means to substitute chemical synthesis or phytoextraction.

α-Terpineol was produced by expressing the truncated α-Terpineol synthase (tVvTS) from Vitis vinifera in S. cerevisiae. The α-Terpineol titer was increased to 0.83 mg/L with overexpression of the rate-limiting genes tHMG1, IDI1 and ERG20^F96W-N127W. A GSGSGSGSGS linker was applied to fuse ERG20^F96W-N127W with tVvTS, and expressing the fusion protein increased the α-Terpineol production by 2.87-fold to 2.39 mg/L when compared with the parental strain. In addition, we found that farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) accumulation by down-regulation of ERG9 expression and deletion of LPP1 and DPP1 did not improve α-Terpineol production. Therefore, ERG9 was overexpressed and the α-Terpineol titer was further increased to 3.32 mg/L. The best α-Terpineol producing strain LCB08 was then used for batch and fed-batch fermentation in a 5 L bioreactor, and the production of α-Terpineol was ultimately improved to 21.88 mg/L.

An efficient α-Terpineol production cell factory was constructed by engineering the S. cerevisiae mevalonate pathway, and the metabolic engineering strategies could also be applied to produce other valuable monoterpene compounds in yeast.