High–level β–carotene production from xylose by engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae without overexpression of a truncated HMG1 (tHMG1)
β-Carotene is a natural pigment and health-promoting metabolite, and has been widely used in the nutraceutical, feed, and cosmetic industries. Here, we engineered a GRAS yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae to produce β-carotene from xylose, the second most abundant and inedible sugar component of lignocellulose biomass. Specifically, a β-carotene biosynthetic pathway containing crtYB, crtI, and crtE from Xanthophyllomyces dendrorhous was introduced into a xylose-fermenting S. cerevisiae. The resulting strain produced β-carotene from xylose at a titer threefold higher than from glucose. Interestingly, overexpression of tHMG1, which has been reported as a critical genetic perturbation to enhance metabolic fluxes in the mevalonate pathway and β-carotene production in yeast when glucose is used, did not further improve the production of β-carotene from xylose. Through fermentation profiling, metabolites analysis, and transcriptional studies, we found the advantages of using xylose as a carbon source, instead of glucose, for β-carotene production to be a more respiratory feature of xylose consumption, a larger cytosolic acetyl-CoA pool, and an upregulated expression level of rate-limiting genes in the β-carotene-producing pathway, including ACS1 and HMG1. As a result, 772.8 mg/L of β-carotene was obtained in a fed-batch bioreactor culture with xylose feeding. Considering the inevitable large scale production of xylose when cellulosic biomass-based bioeconomy is implemented, our results suggest xylose utilization is a promising strategy for overproduction of carotenoids and other isoprenoids in engineered S. cerevisiae.
- Research Organization:
- Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States); Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), Urbana, IL (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation; China Scholarship Council; USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0018420; 201606350094
- OSTI ID:
- 1651205
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1991878
- Journal Information:
- Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 117, Issue 11; ISSN 0006-3592
- Publisher:
- WileyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
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