Boosting production of cembratriene-ol in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via systematic optimization

Cembratriene-ol is a good biodegradable biopesticide ingredient with future potential applications in the field of sustainable agriculture. Cembratriene-ol is a monocyclic diterpenoid compound that is synthesized only in the trichome gland of Nicotiana plants. In this study, geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase gene ggpps from Taxus canadensis and cbts*Δp were heterologously expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae W303-1A to successfully synthesize cembratriene-ol. The titer of cembratriene-ol was increased by 1.84-fold compared to the control by overexpressing the S. cerevisiae bifunctional (2E,6E)-farnesyl diphosphate synthase genes ERG20 and cbts*Δp under one promoter P_GAP . The titer of cembratriene-ol in the engineered S. cerevisiae BY4741 was increased by 1.39-fold compared to the engineered S. cerevisiae W303-1A. The titer of cembratriene-ol in the engineered S. cerevisiae BY4741 was increased by 2.22-fold compared to the control by overexpressing ERG20 and cbts*Δp, respectively, using two promoters P_GAP . Cembratriene-ol was found to be successfully synthesized via the integrated expression of cbts*Δp, ggpps and ERG20 on the genome of S. cerevisiae BY4741. The titer of cembratriene-ol in S. cerevisiae S25 was further increased by 1.80-fold compared to the control via dynamic control of the squalene synthase gene ERG9. Overexpression of the genes cbts*Δp and ggpps using pY26-GPD-TEF in S. cerevisiae S25 with their integration expression increased the titer of cembratriene-ol by 26.1-fold compared to S. cerevisiae S25. The titer of cembratriene-ol was significantly enhanced by mitochondrial compartmentalized expression of cbts*Δp and ggpps, which was 76.3-fold higher than that of the initial strain constructed. It was indicated that the systematic optimization has great potential in facilitating high-level production of cembratriene-ol production in S. cerevisiae.