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Expression of a synthetic Artemesia annua amorphadiene synthase in Aspergillus nidulans yields altered product distribution

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Journal of Industrial Microbiology & Biotechnology

Abstract

A gene encoding a plant terpene cyclase, Artemisia annua amorpha-4,11-diene synthase (ADS), was expressed in Aspergillus nidulans under control of a strong constitutive promoter, (p)gpdA. The transformants produced only small amounts of amorphadiene, but much larger amounts of similar sesquiterpenes normally produced as minor by-products in planta. In contrast, expression of ADS in Escherichia coli produced almost exclusively amorpha-4,11-diene. These results indicate that the host environment can greatly impact the terpenes produced from terpene synthases.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from Merck.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    David Lubertozzi & Jay D. Keasling

  2. Department of Bioengineering, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Jay D. Keasling

  3. Synthetic Biology Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 94720, USA

    Jay D. Keasling

  4. Berkeley Center for Synthetic Biology, University of California, 717 Potter Street, Building 977, Mail code 3224, Berkeley, CA, 94720-3224, USA

    Jay D. Keasling

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  1. David Lubertozzi
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Correspondence to Jay D. Keasling.

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10295_2008_400_MOESM1_ESM.doc

Fig. 3-9. GC-MS analysis of AN3277 activity in yeast. (a) Gas chromatograph traces: 01, blank; 02, pESC-URA; 03, pESC-URA-3277c (b) Mass spectrum of largest peak in sample 03 and reported spectrum of (+) aristolochene (Felicetti and Cane, 2004 [34]). (DOC 73 kb)

Table S-1. Identified compounds in A. nidulans wild-type and ADS transformant (DOC 398 kb)

Table S-2. Sesquiterpenes identified in S. cerevisiae AN3277 transformant (DOC 40 kb)

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Lubertozzi, D., Keasling, J.D. Expression of a synthetic Artemesia annua amorphadiene synthase in Aspergillus nidulans yields altered product distribution. J Ind Microbiol Biotechnol 35, 1191–1198 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-008-0400-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-008-0400-3

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