ACS Synthetic BiologyPub Date : 2025-07-18Epub Date: 2025-06-12DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00817
Euphrasie Munier-Lépinay, Coline Amaro-Lauer, Denis Faure, Anthony Quéro, David Mathiron, Mounia Khelifa, Sylvain Laclef, Serge Pilard
{"title":"Identification of Biosynthetic Precursors and Optimization of 7-Hydroxytropolone Bioproduction by <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7.","authors":"Euphrasie Munier-Lépinay, Coline Amaro-Lauer, Denis Faure, Anthony Quéro, David Mathiron, Mounia Khelifa, Sylvain Laclef, Serge Pilard","doi":"10.1021/acssynbio.4c00817","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acssynbio.4c00817","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Cell-free supernatant of the strain <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7 has previously shown interesting activity against Soft Rot <i>Pectobacteriaceae</i> (SRP), the bacterial pathogen responsible for blackleg and soft rot diseases in potatoes. A deeper understanding of its mode of action is essential to optimize its use as a biocontrol agent. We previously reported that <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7 produces a specialized metabolite, the 7-hydroxytropolone (7-HT), which acts as an iron chelator, limiting the growth of SRP. In this study, we have constructed a Δ<i>hts10</i> deletion mutant of <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7, encoding a putative acyl-CoA dehydrogenase corresponding to the ortholog of <i>orf10</i> in <i>Pseudomonas donghuensis</i>. We demonstrated that this mutant was deficient in 7-HT biosynthesis, confirming that this molecule is the metabolite responsible for the antagonist activity. After finding a minimum culture medium (MK) allowing the <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7 growth without 7-HT production, we investigated the biosynthetic pathway of this metabolite. We identified phenylalanine and phenylacetic acid as 7-HT precursors and demonstrated that the addition of 150 mg/L of phenylalanine to the MK medium enhanced the 7-HT bioproduction by <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7 up to 30 mg/L. These findings provide new insights into the biosynthesis and regulation of 7-HT, paving the way for the use of <i>Pseudomonas sp.</i> PA14H7 as a biocontrol agent.</p>","PeriodicalId":26,"journal":{"name":"ACS Synthetic Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2525-2536"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144281669","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Comprehensive Review of l-Theanine Production in <i>Escherichia coli</i>: The Recent Progress, Metabolic Engineering Strategies, and Future Prospects.","authors":"Yuhuan Zhang, Mengzhen Jia, Junyao Huang, Zhicheng Fu, Jiarong Liu, Yanlin Kang, Hui Yang, Bin Zhang","doi":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00291","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00291","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>l-theanine is a nonproteinogenic amino acid widely utilized as a food additive and cosmetic ingredient, with promising potential in medical applications. Owing to its distinctive properties and well-established safety profile across the food, cosmetics, health supplement, and pharmaceutical sectors, global demand for l-theanine has been rising rapidly. Among available production methods, microbial fermentation, recognized for its environmental sustainability, has emerged as the preferred approach, gradually supplanting traditional techniques, such as plant extraction and chemical synthesis. Recent advances, particularly the development of ethylamine-free biosynthetic pathways and the successful de novo biosynthesis of l-theanine in <i>Escherichia coli</i>, a well-established microbial chassis with rapid growth and versatile genetic engineering tools, have opened new avenues for industrial-scale production. This review highlights the biosynthetic pathways of l-theanine and outlines targeted metabolic engineering strategies to enhance its yield. These include the identification and overexpression of key biosynthetic enzymes, enhancement of ATP regeneration, construction of endogenous ethylamine biosynthetic routes, redirection of metabolic flux toward l-theanine production, and suppression of competing pathways. Furthermore, current limitations in strain optimization are discussed along with perspectives on future directions for developing <i>E. coli</i> as a robust microbial cell factory for l-theanine production.</p>","PeriodicalId":26,"journal":{"name":"ACS Synthetic Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2433-2444"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144558394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Synthetic BiologyPub Date : 2025-07-18Epub Date: 2025-06-16DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.5c00150
Dominik L Siebert, Frank Sargent, Ammar Al-Shameri, Volker Sieber
{"title":"Development of a Universal Platform for the Heterologous Expression of Bidirectional [Ni-Fe]-Hydrogenases in <i>E. coli</i>.","authors":"Dominik L Siebert, Frank Sargent, Ammar Al-Shameri, Volker Sieber","doi":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00150","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00150","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Bidirectional [Ni-Fe]-hydrogenases are useful tools for integrating hydrogen into existing chemical processes by utilizing H<sub>2</sub> to regenerate expensive cofactors such as NAD(P)H. One enzyme broadly applied to this purpose is the soluble [Ni-Fe]-hydrogenase from <i>Cupriavidus necator</i> (<i>Cn</i>SH). However, the homologous production of <i>Cn</i>SH suffers from slow growth rates and complex growth medium requirements of the native host. In the present study, we developed a simple approach for the production of <i>Cn</i>SH in <i>Escherichia coli</i> based on the coexpression of the maturation factors from <i>C. necator</i>. By optimizing the artificial operons coding for the hydrogenase proteins as well as the maturation factors, we were able to produce <i>Cn</i>SH with similar yields and activities compared to the native host. Additionally, we used our system to express three functional novel soluble [Ni-Fe]-hydrogenases, demonstrating its applicability for future enzyme screening and discovery.</p>","PeriodicalId":26,"journal":{"name":"ACS Synthetic Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2710-2717"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12281615/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144300630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Synthetic BiologyPub Date : 2025-07-18Epub Date: 2025-06-27DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.4c00792
Yifei Zhao, Zhiqiang Xiao, Yongtong Wang, Xinjia Tan, Siqi Zhang, Qiyuan Lu, Fanglin Hu, Shasha Zuo, Yang Shan, Juan Liu, Gaoyang Li
{"title":"Xylose-Driven Metabolic Reprogramming in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> for Enhancing <i>p</i>-Coumaric Acid Production.","authors":"Yifei Zhao, Zhiqiang Xiao, Yongtong Wang, Xinjia Tan, Siqi Zhang, Qiyuan Lu, Fanglin Hu, Shasha Zuo, Yang Shan, Juan Liu, Gaoyang Li","doi":"10.1021/acssynbio.4c00792","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acssynbio.4c00792","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Xylose, the second most abundant sugar in nature, has garnered increasing attention as a promising carbon source for microbial fermentation in recent years. However, the unpredictable and inefficient metabolism of xylose in <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> has limited its practical application. In this study, we developed a xylotrophic strain through strategic integration of the xylose isomerase pathway, increasing xylose isomerase activity and identifying optimal transporters. Characterization of the modified strain demonstrated an 11.84-fold increase in ATP content under xylose conditions compared to glucose. This was achieved by redirecting carbon flux away from glycolysis, which resulted in a reduced level of ethanol and glycerol production. To demonstrate the industrial relevance of this platform, we applied the optimized strain to synthesize <i>p</i>-coumaric acid (<i>p</i>-CA). After process refinement, the strain achieved a final titer of 1293.15 mg/L <i>p</i>-CA using xylose as the sole carbon source, representing a 68.29% yield improvement compared to the glucose mode. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the highest reported to date for <i>p</i>-CA production from xylose alone. This study highlights the metabolic advantages of xylotrophic yeast and demonstrates the potential of leveraging these advantages for efficient <i>p</i>-CA synthesis, paving the way for the sustainable valorization of xylose into high-value natural products.</p>","PeriodicalId":26,"journal":{"name":"ACS Synthetic Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2514-2524"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144504136","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
ACS Synthetic BiologyPub Date : 2025-07-18Epub Date: 2025-07-07DOI: 10.1021/acssynbio.5c00065
Ute A Hoffmann, Anna Z Schuppe, Axel Knave, Emil Sporre, Hjalmar Brismar, Elias Englund, Per-Olof Syrén, Elton P Hudson
{"title":"A Cyanobacterial Screening Platform for Rubisco Mutant Variants.","authors":"Ute A Hoffmann, Anna Z Schuppe, Axel Knave, Emil Sporre, Hjalmar Brismar, Elias Englund, Per-Olof Syrén, Elton P Hudson","doi":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00065","DOIUrl":"10.1021/acssynbio.5c00065","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Rubisco is the main entry point of inorganic carbon into the biosphere and a central player in the global carbon system. The relatively low specific activity and tendency to accept O<sub>2</sub> as a substrate have made Rubisco an attractive but challenging target for enzyme engineering. We have developed an enzyme engineering and screening platform for Rubisco using the model cyanobacterium <i>Synechocystis</i> sp. PCC 6803. Starting with the Form II Rubisco from <i>Gallionella,</i> we first show that the enzyme can replace the native Form I Rubisco in <i>Synechocystis</i> and that growth rates become sensitive to CO<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>2</sub> levels. We address the challenge of designing a zero-shot input library of the <i>Gallionella</i> Rubisco, without prior experimental knowledge, by coupling the phylogenetically guided model EV mutation with \"<i>in silico</i> evolution\". This multisite mutagenesis library of <i>Synechocystis</i> (<i>n</i> = 16) was subjected to competitive growth in different gas feeds coupled to deep sequencing, in order to compare Rubisco variants. We identified an amino acid exchange that increased the thermostability of <i>Gallionella</i> Rubisco and conveyed resilience to otherwise detrimental amino acid exchanges. The platform is a first step toward high-throughput screening of Rubisco variants in <i>Synechocystis</i> and creating optimized enzyme variants to accelerate the Calvin-Benson-Bassham cycle in cyanobacteria and possibly chloroplasts.</p>","PeriodicalId":26,"journal":{"name":"ACS Synthetic Biology","volume":" ","pages":"2619-2633"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-07-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144582617","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}