A yeast platform for high-level synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids

Michael E. Pyne; Kaspar Kevvai; Parbir S. Grewal; Lauren Narcross; Brian Choi; Leanne Bourgeois; John E. Dueber; Vincent J. J. Martin

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-17172-x

Nature Communications (Jul 2020)

A yeast platform for high-level synthesis of tetrahydroisoquinoline alkaloids

Michael E. Pyne,
Kaspar Kevvai,
Parbir S. Grewal,
Lauren Narcross,
Brian Choi,
Leanne Bourgeois,
John E. Dueber,
Vincent J. J. Martin

Affiliations

Michael E. Pyne: Department of Biology, Concordia University
Kaspar Kevvai: Department of Biology, Concordia University
Parbir S. Grewal: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Lauren Narcross: Department of Biology, Concordia University
Brian Choi: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Leanne Bourgeois: Department of Biology, Concordia University
John E. Dueber: Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley
Vincent J. J. Martin: Department of Biology, Concordia University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-17172-x
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 10

Abstract

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Plants synthesize more than 3000 tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) alkaloids, but only a few of them have been produced by engineered microbes and titers are very low. Here, the authors increase (S)-reticuline titer to 4.6 g/L and repurpose the yeast Ehrlich pathway to synthesize a diverse array of THIQ scaffolds.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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