Abstract
Monascus purpureus is a fungus known for producing various physiologically active secondary metabolites. Of these, Monacolin K, a compound with hypocholesterolemic effects, is controlled by the biosynthetic gene mokF. Here, mokF deletion and overexpression strains (F2 and C3, respectively) were constructed using genetic engineering and compared with the M. purpureus wild strain (M1). The results showed that Monacolin K production was reduced by 50.86% in F2 and increased by 74.19% in C3. Of the three strains, C3 showed the highest production of Monacolin K and the most abnormal morphology. In addition, mokF influenced the expression level of mokA–mokI and might play an important role in regulating the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites in M. purpureus. Overall, our study verified the function of mokF in M. purpureus using gene deletion and overexpression technology.
Key points
• The deletion and overexpression strains of mokF gene were successfully constructed.
• The deletion or overexpression of mokF gene directly affected Monacolin K production.
•The mokF gene had little effect on Monascus pigments and cell biomass.
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Funding
This study was funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 32172185), Beijing Nova Program (Grant No.Z181100006218021), Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. KZ201810011015), Support Project of High-level Teachers in Beijing Municipal Universities in the Period of 13th Five-year Plan (Grant No. CIT&TCD201804023), Quality Construction of Talent Cultivation — First-class Professional Construction (City Level) — Food Science and Engineering (Grant No.PXM2019_014213_000010), National Key Research and Development Program (Grant No. 2016YFD0400802, 2016YFD0400502-02), The construct of innovation service ability—Science and Technology Achievement Transformation—Upgrade project (Grant No. PXM 2016–014213-000034), Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Project (Grant No. Z171100002217019), and Beijing Excellent Talents Training Project (Grant No. 2016000020124G025).
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CZ: Methodology, investigation, data curation, writing-original draft, and funding acquisition. MC: Methodology and investigation. LY: Methodology and investigation. YC: Methodology and investigation. YQ: Methodology and investigation. YZ: Methodology. BW: Writing-review and editing, funding acquisition, and supervision. BS: Resources, funding acquisition, and supervision. CW: Writing-review and editing and funding acquisition.
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Zhang, C., Chen, M., Yang, L. et al. Effects of mokF gene deletion and overexpression on the Monacolin K metabolism yields of Monascus purpureus. Appl Microbiol Biotechnol 106, 3069–3080 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-11913-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-022-11913-2