Directed evolution of mevalonate kinase in Escherichia coli by random mutagenesis for improved lycopene.

ABSTRACT: Lycopene is a terpenoid pigment that has diverse applications in the fields of food and medicine. Metabolic engineering in microbial hosts has shown that mevalonate kinase (MK, EC2.7.1.366) is one of the rate-limiting enzymes in the lycopene synthetic pathway. In this study, a directed evolution strategy in Escherichia coli was used to optimize the activity of Saccharomyces cerevisiae MK. Using three rounds of error-prone PCR; screening the development of a lycopene-dependent color reaction; and combinatorial site-specific saturation mutagenesis, three activity-enhancing mutations were identified: V13D, S148I, and V301E. V13D was near the MK catalytic center, in the β-sheet that forms a salt-bridge with nearby Arg-248. S148I was located in the α-helix lid and improved the sta

SUBMITTER: Chen H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9080002 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature