Review
Agriculture, Multidisciplinary
Jie Mai, Wenjuan Li, Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Xiao-Jun Ji
Summary: Sesquiterpenes are natural compounds composed of three isoprene units with remarkable biological activities and complex structures, widely used in flavor, pharmaceutical and biofuel industries. The microbial production of sesquiterpenes, driven by metabolic engineering and synthetic biology, offers a promising alternative to plant extraction and chemical synthesis to meet market demand.
JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL AND FOOD CHEMISTRY
(2021)
Review
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Govinda R. Navale, Mahesh S. Dharne, Sandip S. Shinde
Summary: Isoprenoids, also known as terpenoids, are diverse organic compounds found abundantly in nature, with various applications in pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, and chemical industries. Recent advancements in metabolic engineering have enabled the production of isoprenoids in heterologous host systems like Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Challenges and strategies for scale-up and engineering of isoprenoids in heterologous host systems have been discussed in detail.
APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Jyumpei Kobayashi, Daisuke Sasaki, Kiyotaka Y. Hara, Tomohisa Hasunuma, Akihiko Kondo
Summary: This study revealed for the first time that engineering the L-Ser and Gly biosynthetic pathways in S. cerevisiae is an effective strategy for increasing glutathione production.
MICROBIAL CELL FACTORIES
(2022)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiaofan Feng, Mario Andrea Marchisio
Summary: New synthetic constitutive promoters for Saccharomyces cerevisiae were constructed and optimized by utilizing foreign core promoters as templates and manipulating the TATA box composition, leading to an expanded pool of yeast promoters.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES
(2021)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Jinjin Peng, Luan Wang, Mengge Wang, Rui Du, Shangshang Qin, Cheng-Yun Jin, Yongjun Wei
Summary: The fruit of Lycium barbarum L., commonly known as goji berry, is used in traditional Chinese medicine for its various health benefits, with one of the main components being L. barbarum polysaccharide (LBP). However, natural production of LBP from goji berries is inefficient and varies in quality, leading to the need for alternative production methods. This review examines the potential of using engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae for biosynthesis of LBP by recovering key enzymes from the LBP biosynthetic pathway in L. barbarum.
Review
Biology
Xiaofan Feng, Mario Andrea Marchisio
Summary: Promoters are DNA sequences that play a crucial role in initiating transcription. They can function constitutively or be regulated by different environmental signals. The strength of promoters significantly impacts the expression of proteins and RNA in yeast genetic circuits. Advances in promoter engineering have been driven by Synthetic Biology, with a focus on constructing artificial promoters for genetic circuits in popular chassis like S. cerevisiae.
Review
Microbiology
Zihe Liu, Junyang Wang, Jens Nielsen
Summary: This review article provides an overview of recent advancements in yeast-based biofuel production, highlighting the use of synthetic biology for engineering microbial cell factories to produce biofuels in a more precise and efficient manner. The challenges associated with developing novel processes for biofuel production using synthetic biology are also discussed.
CURRENT OPINION IN MICROBIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Sijie Zhou, Yi Wu, Yu Zhao, Zhen Zhang, Limin Jiang, Lin Liu, Yan Zhang, Jijun Tang, Ying-Jin Yuan
Summary: Synthetic genome evolution is a systematic and straightforward approach to explore evolutionary processes. The SCRaMbLE system can drive structural variations rapidly and uncover over 260,000 rearrangement events in SCRaMbLEd yeast with 5.5 synthetic chromosomes. These rearrangements exhibit a specific landscape determined by the combinatorial effects of chromatin accessibility and 3D spatial contact probability. The extensive rearrangements mediated by SCRaMbLE provide a driving force for directed genome evolution, and the investigation of rearrangement landscape offers mechanistic insights into genome dynamics.
NATIONAL SCIENCE REVIEW
(2023)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Yiting Shi, Tianyu Dong, Boxuan Zeng, Mingdong Yao, Ying Wang, Zexiong Xie, Wenhai Xiao, Yingjin Yuan
Summary: This study successfully manipulated the production of parthenolide, a sesquiterpene lactone and precursor for the anti-glioblastoma drug ACT001, in microorganisms through a comprehensive strategy involving P450 source screening, NADPH supply, and endoplasmic reticulum size rewiring. The highest titers of parthenolide and costunolide achieved in microbes were 31.0 mg/L and 648.5 mg/L, respectively, demonstrating the potential for sustainable production of sesquiterpene lactones and highlighting a general strategy for manipulating multiple plant-derived P450s in microbes.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Franklin Leyang Gong, Jianing Han, Sijin Li
Summary: Yeast has been a versatile model host for complex and valuable natural product biosynthesis. Researchers have developed a method for multiplex integration of ultralong biosynthetic pathways in yeast, enabling fast and efficient integration.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Aafke C. A. van Aalst, Sophie C. de Valk, Walter M. van Gulik, Mickel L. A. Jansen, Jack T. Pronk, Robert Mans
Summary: This paper reviews pathway engineering strategies for improving ethanol yield on glucose and/or sucrose in anaerobic cultures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It discusses the context dependency, theoretical impact, and potential for industrial application of different strategies.
SYNTHETIC AND SYSTEMS BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2022)
Review
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Xiaoxi Zhu, Xiaonan Liu, Tian Liu, Yina Wang, Nida Ahmed, Zhichao Li, Huifeng Jiang
Summary: Plant natural products play a significant role in synthetic biology, with successful engineering synthesis achieved in some cases, offering huge opportunities for agriculture and industry in the future.
PLANT COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Ignacio Belda, Thomas C. Williams, Miguel de Celis, Ian T. Paulsen, Isak S. Pretorius
Summary: Synthetic metagenomics has the potential to reveal the complexity of microbial ecosystems by showing the simplicity of microbial communities captured in a single cell. Conceptually, a yeast cell carrying a representative synthetic metagenome could uncover the complexity of interactions between multiple species, as illustrated here with wine ferments.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2021)
Article
Biochemical Research Methods
Pingping Wang, Zhenjun Fan, Wenping Wei, Chengshuai Yang, Yan Wang, Xiao Shen, Xing Yan, Zhihua Zhou
Summary: Osthole, a compound found in traditional Chinese medicine, has been found to possess potential bronchodilator activity by inhibiting phosphodiesterase 4D, making it a novel treatment for asthma that does not target β2-adrenoceptors.
ACS SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Yixuan Zhu, Jingtao Zhang, Lang Zhu, Zefang Jia, Qi Li, Wei Xiao, Limin Cao
Summary: Efficient xylose fermentation in budding yeast was achieved through rational promoter elements engineering, with HXT7 showing the best performance among surveyed promoters. The redox balance of the xylose utilization pathway was optimized to achieve a balanced xylose metabolism toward ethanol formation.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Francesco Licausi, Beatrice Giuntoli
Summary: Synthetic biology has great potential in the study of plant hypoxia physiology, allowing for the inference of plant oxygen sensing mechanisms and the development of genetic tools for regulating plant responses and metabolism in low oxygen environments.
Review
Plant Sciences
Daan A. Weits, Joost T. van Dongen, Francesco Licausi
Summary: Studies have shown that oxygen plays a crucial role in plant development, with chronic hypoxia being distinct from stress-associated acute hypoxia. The Cys/Arg branch of the N-degron pathway plays a key role in integrating oxygen levels and influencing plant growth and development.
Article
Plant Sciences
Maria Cristina Valeri, Giacomo Novi, Daan A. Weits, Anna Mensuali, Pierdomenico Perata, Elena Loreti
Summary: Infection by Botrytis cinerea induces local hypoxia in leaves, leading to stabilization of ERF-VII proteins. This hypoxic environment may impact the stability of other N-degron-regulated proteins and the metabolism of elicitors.
Article
Plant Sciences
Khac Nhu Nghi, Andrea Tagliani, Lorenzo Mariotti, Daan A. Weits, Pierdomenico Perata, Chiara Pucciariello
Summary: The availability of auxin in rice coleoptile under submergence correlates with its final length, with the auxin influx carrier AUX1 playing a key role in influencing this trait. The coleoptile tip is involved in determining the final length of rice varieties with long coleoptiles. Experimental results suggest that auxin biosynthesis and transport are underlying factors in the differential elongation between short and long coleoptile-harbouring varieties of japonica rice.
Article
Plant Sciences
Liem T. Bui, Vinay Shukla, Federico M. Giorgi, Alice Trivellini, Pierdomenico Perata, Francesco Licausi, Beatrice Giuntoli
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Vinay Shukla, Jian-Pu Han, Fabienne Cleard, Linnka Lefebvre-Legendre, Kay Gully, Paulina Flis, Alice Berhin, Tonni G. Andersen, David E. Salt, Christiane Nawrath, Marie Barberon
Summary: Suberin, a hydrophobic biopolymer, forms protective barriers in roots against stress. In endodermal cells, suberin deposition is regulated by a set of MYB transcription factors, controlled by developmental and environmental signals, impacting nutrient homeostasis.
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
(2021)
Review
Plant Sciences
Vinay Shukla, Marie Barberon
Summary: Plant cells are protected by a hydrophobic barrier, with the endodermis developing Casparian strips and suberin lamellae to control material movement. While the enzymes involved in suberin biosynthesis are well characterized, further steps in suberin formation and regulation are still unclear. Recent studies on suberin from a cell biological perspective have provided insights into suberin transport and polymerization in the cell wall, revealing the molecular mechanisms controlling suberin biosynthesis and regulation in plant interactions.
CURRENT OPINION IN PLANT BIOLOGY
(2021)
Article
Plant Sciences
Luca Piccinini, Sergio Iacopino, Stefano Cazzaniga, Matteo Ballottari, Beatrice Giuntoli, Francesco Licausi
Summary: Inspired by the light-driven conformational transitions of orange carotenoid proteins, researchers developed a molecular device that can switch its state in response to blue-green light. This study provides a new approach for applying light-responsive systems in plants and successfully controlled transcriptional responses in chloroplasts using a photoswitch.
Article
Plant Sciences
Daan A. Weits, Lina Zhou, Beatrice Giuntoli, Laura Dalle Carbonare, Sergio Iacopino, Luca Piccinini, Lara Lombardi, Vinay Shukla, Liem T. Bui, Giacomo Novi, Joost T. van Dongen, Francesco Licausi
Summary: N-terminal cysteine oxidases (NCOs) oxidise the N-terminal cysteine of specific proteins, initiating proteolytic N-degron pathway. Both types of PCOs regulate the anaerobic response in angiosperms.
PLANT CELL AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Editorial Material
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Daai Zhang, Francesco Licausi
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Chrysoula K. Pantazopoulou, Sara Buti, Chi Tam Nguyen, Lisa Oskam, Daan A. Weits, Edward E. Farmer, Kaisa Kajala, Ronald Pierik
Summary: Plants detect their neighbors through touch, which triggers a calcium response and drives leaf movement. This touch-induced hyponasty mechanism is adaptive and involves an increase in cytosolic calcium concentration in leaf tip trichomes.
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
(2023)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Ankita Chadda, Alexander G. Kozlov, Binh Nguyen, Timothy M. Lohman, Eric A. Galburt
Summary: In this study, it was found that the DNA damage response in Mycobacterium tuberculosis differs from well-studied model bacteria. The DNA repair helicase UvrD1 in Mtb is activated through a redox-dependent process and is closely associated with the homo-dimeric Ku protein. Additionally, Ku protein is shown to stimulate the helicase activity of UvrD1.
JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
(2024)