De Novo Production of Xanthohumol by a Metabolically Engineered Escherichia coli
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Xanthohumol is a prenylflavonoid from hops with relevant bioactivities. Microbial production has emerged as a sustainable and potentially economic solution to produce it. Herein, we constructed a pathway for the de novo production of xanthohumol in Escherichia coli . Since the xanthohumol pathway depends on the availability of dimethylallyl pyrophosphate (DMAPP) and S- adenosylmethionine (SAM), SAM synthase ( metK ) was integrated into the genome of E. coli strains with previously engineered DMAPP pathways. Eleven prenyltransferases (PT) and the O -methyltransferase (OMT) from Humulus lupulus ( Hl OMT1) were tested. E. coli M-PAR-121: Bl IDI: metK, constructed by integrating metK into the E. coli strain with integration of isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase (IDI) from Bacillus licheniformis ( E. coli M-PAR-121: Bl IDI) and expressing CdpC3PT from Neosartorya fischeri and Hl OMT1 in combination with the naringenin chalcone pathway, was the best producer. This strain was able to produce 7.3 mg/L of desmethylxanthohumol and 5.3 mg/L of xanthohumol in the bioreactor, representing the first report of de novo production of xanthohumol in E. coli .
Source: ACS Synthetic Biology
Institutions: University of Minho, Labbels, University of Manchester
Language: English
Subfield: Molecular Biology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,500
OpenAlex ID: W4414495462