Engineering Isoprenoid Quinone Production in Yeast

Isoprenoid quinones are bioactive molecules that include an isoprenoid chain and a quinone head. They are traditionally found to be involved in primary metabolism, where they act as electron transporters, but specialized isoprenoid quinones are also produced by all domains of life. Here, we report the engineering of a baker's yeast strain, Saccharomyces cerevisiae EPYFA3, for the production of isoprenoid quinones. Our yeast strain was developed through overexpression of the shikimate pathway in a well-established recipient strain (S. cerevisiae EPY300) where the mevalonate pathway is overexpressed. As a proof of concept, our new host strain was used to overproduce the endogenous isoprenoid quinone coenzyme Q₆, resulting in a nearly 3-fold production increase. EPYFA3 represents a valuable platform for the heterologous production of high value isoprenoid quinones. EPYFA3 will also facilitate the elucidation of isoprenoid quinone biosynthetic pathways.