Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Feb 2021)

Bornyl Diphosphate Synthase From Cinnamomum burmanni and Its Application for (+)-Borneol Biosynthesis in Yeast

  • Rui Ma,
  • Rui Ma,
  • Ping Su,
  • Ping Su,
  • Juan Guo,
  • Baolong Jin,
  • Qing Ma,
  • Haiyan Zhang,
  • Lingli Chen,
  • Liuying Mao,
  • Mei Tian,
  • Changjiangsheng Lai,
  • Jinfu Tang,
  • Guanghong Cui,
  • Luqi Huang,
  • Luqi Huang

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fbioe.2021.631863
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9

Abstract

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(+)-Borneol is a desirable monoterpenoid with effective anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects that is known as soft gold. (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase is the key enzyme in the (+)-borneol biosynthesis pathway. Despite several reported (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase genes, relatively low (+)-borneol production hinders the attempts to synthesize it using microbial fermentation. Here, we identified the highly specific (+)-bornyl diphosphate synthase CbTPS1 from Cinnamomum burmanni. An in vitro assay showed that (+)-borneol was the main product of CbTPS1 (88.70% of the total products), and the Km value was 5.11 ± 1.70 μM with a kcat value of 0.01 s–1. Further, we reconstituted the (+)-borneol biosynthetic pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. After tailored truncation and adding Kozak sequences, the (+)-borneol yield was improved by 96.33-fold to 2.89 mg⋅L–1 compared with the initial strain in shake flasks. This work is the first reported attempt to produce (+)-borneol by microbial fermentation. It lays a foundation for further pathway reconstruction and metabolic engineering production of this valuable natural monoterpenoid.

Keywords