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Expanding the terpene biosynthetic code with non-canonical 16 carbon atom building blocks
Codruta Ignea1,2, Morten H Raadam1, Aikaterini Koutsaviti3
1Biochemical Engineering Group, Plant Biochemistry Section, Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Thorvaldsensvej 40, 1871, Frederiksberg C, Denmark.
Nature Communications
|September 3, 2022
Summary
Scientists engineered yeast to create novel 16-carbon building blocks for specialized metabolites. This breakthrough expands the chemical diversity of biomaterials for applications in medicine, flavors, and fragrances.
Area of Science:
- Metabolic Engineering
- Synthetic Biology
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Specialized metabolites are crucial for medicine, flavors, and fragrances.
- Current metabolite production is limited by a small set of biosynthetic building blocks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To engineer yeast capable of synthesizing non-canonical isoprenoid building blocks with 16 carbons.
- To expand the chemical space and application potential of specialized metabolites.
Main Methods:
- Utilized synthetic biology and protein engineering to construct yeast strains.
- Employed terpene synthases and cytochrome P450 enzymes to create C16 isoprenoid scaffolds and oxygenated derivatives.
- Reconstructed terpene biosynthesis pathways on 16-carbon backbones.
Main Results:
- Successfully produced 10 distinct non-canonical 16-carbon isoprenoid building blocks.
- Synthesized 28 different non-canonical terpenes, including oxygenated compounds.
- Identified novel terpenes with potential odorant properties.
Conclusions:
- Demonstrated a novel strategy for expanding the diversity of specialized metabolites.
- Enabled sustainable production of molecules with non-canonical chemical structures.
- Opened new avenues for biomaterial discovery and application.
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