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Deletion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ARO8 gene, encoding an aromatic amino acid transaminase, enhances phenylethanol production from glucose

ABSTRACT: Its characteristic rose-like aroma makes phenylethanol a popular ingredient in foods, beverages and cosmetics. Microbial production of phenylethanol currently relies on whole-cell bioconversion of phenylalanine with yeasts that harbor an Ehrlich pathway for phenylalanine catabolism. Complete biosynthesis of phenylethanol from a cheap carbon source such as glucose provides an economically attractive alternative for phenylalanine bioconversion. In this study, a Synthetic Genetic Array screening was applied to identify genes involved in regulation of phenylethanol synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The screen focused on transcriptional regulation of ARO10, which encodes the major decarboxylase involved in conversion of phenylpyruvate to phenylethanol. A deletion in ARO8, which encodes an aromatic amino acid transaminase, was found to cause a transcriptional upregulation of ARO10 during growth with ammonium sulfate as the sole nitrogen source. Physiological characterization revealed that the aro8 mutation led to substantial changes in the absolute and relative intracellular concentrations of amino acids. Moreover, deletion of ARO8 led to de novo production of phenylethanol during growth on a glucose synthetic medium with ammonium as the sole nitrogen source. The aro8 mutation also stimulated phenylethanol production when combined with other, previously documented mutations that deregulate aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae. The resulting engineered S. cerevisiae strain produced over 3 mM of phenylethanol from glucose during growth on a simple synthetic medium. The strong impact of a transaminase deletion on intracellular amino acid concentrations opens new possibilities for yeast-based production of amino acid-derived products.

ORGANISM(S): Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PROVIDER: GSE52256 | GEO | 2014/03/19

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA227284

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Its characteristic rose-like aroma makes phenylethanol a popular ingredient in foods, beverages and cosmetics. Microbial production of phenylethanol currently relies on whole-cell bioconversion of phenylalanine with yeasts that harbor an Ehrlich pathway for phenylalanine catabolism. Complete biosynthesis of phenylethanol from a cheap carbon source such as glucose provides an economically attractive alternative for phenylalanine bioconversion. In this study, a Synthetic Genetic Array screening was applied to identify genes involved in regulation of phenylethanol synthesis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The screen focused on transcriptional regulation of ARO10, which encodes the major decarboxylase involved in conversion of phenylpyruvate to phenylethanol. A deletion in ARO8, which encodes an aromatic amino acid transaminase, was found to cause a transcriptional upregulation of ARO10 during growth with ammonium sulfate as the sole nitrogen source. Physiological characterization revealed that the aro8M-oM-^AM-^D mutation led to substantial changes in the absolute and relative intracellular concentrations of amino acids. Moreover, deletion of ARO8 led to de novo production of phenylethanol during growth on a glucose synthetic medium with ammonium as the sole nitrogen source. The aro8 mutation also stimulated phenylethanol production when combined with other, previously documented mutations that deregulate aromatic amino acid biosynthesis in S. cerevisiae. The resulting engineered S. cerevisiae strain produced over 3 mM of phenylethanol from glucose during growth on a simple synthetic medium. The strong impact of a transaminase deletion on intracellular amino acid concentrations opens new possibilities for yeast-based production of amino acid-derived products. The goal of the present study was to identify genes that influence the transcriptional (de)repression of the Ehrlich pathway during growth with ammonium as the nitrogen source. With the aid of Synthetic Genetic Array technology, we constructed a strain collection in which deletions in the non-essential genes in the S. cerevisiae genome were combined with a reporter plasmid comprising the ARO10 promoter fused to a reporter gene (egfp) encoding a fluorescent reporter protein. After screening by flow cytometry, deletion of ARO8 led to a deregulated expression from the ARO10 promoter. The impact of this deletion was further studied by transcriptome and intracellular metabolite analyses. Furthermore, phenylethanol production was measured in strains that combined the aro8 mutation with mutations that were previously shown to deregulate aromatic amino acid biosynthesis.

Project description:Algal biofuel production requires an input of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer. Fertilizer synthesized via the Haber-Bosch process produces CO2 as a waste by-product and represents a substantial financial and energy investment. Reliance on synthetic fertilizer attenuates the environmental significance and economic viability of algae production systems. To lower fertilizer input, the waste streams of algal production systems can be recycled to provide alternative sources of nitrogen such as amino acids to the algae. The halophytic green alga Dunaliella viridis can use ammonium (NH4+) derived from the abiotic degradation of amino acids, and previously, supplementation of NH4+ from glutamine (GLN) degradation was shown to support acceptable levels of growth and increased neutral lipid production compared to nitrate. To understand the effect of glutamine-released NH4+ on algae growth and physiology, metabolite levels, growth parameters, and transcript profiles of D. viridis cultures were observed in a time course after transition from media containing nitrate as a sole N source to medium containing GLN, glutamate (GLU), or a N-depleted medium. Growth parameters were similar between GLN (NH4+) and nitrate supplemented cultures, however, metabolite data showed that the GLN supplemented cultures (NH4+) more closely resembled cultures under nitrogen starvation (N-depleted and GLU supplementation). Neutral lipid accumulation was the same in nitrate and glutamine-derived NH4+ cultures. However, glutamine-derived NH4+ caused a transcriptional response in the immediate hours after inoculation of the culture. The strong initial response of cultures to NH4+ changed over the course of days to closely resemble that of nitrogen starvation. These observations suggest that release of NH4+ from glutamine was sufficient to maintain growth, but not high enough to trigger a cell transition to a nitrogen replete state. Comparative transcript profiling of the nitrogen-starved and nitrate-supplied cultures show an overall downregulation of fatty acid synthesis and a shift to starch synthesis and accumulation. The results indicate that a continuous, amino acid derived slow release of NH4+ to algae cultures could reduce the amount of synthetic nitrogen needed for growth, but optimization is needed to balance nitrogen starvation and cell division.

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Deletion of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae ARO8 gene, encoding an aromatic amino acid transaminase, enhances phenylethanol production from glucose

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