Systematically Engineered Fatty Acid Catabolite Pathway for the Production of (2S)-Naringenin in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

The (2S)-naringenin is an important natural flavonoid with several bioactive effects on human health. It is also a key precursor in the biosynthesis of other high value compounds. The production of (2S)-naringenin is significantly influenced by the acetyl-CoA available in the cytosol. In this study, we increased the acetyl-CoA supply via the β-oxidation of fatty acids in the peroxisomes of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Several lipases from different sources and PEX11, FOX1, FOX2, and FOX3, the key genes of the fatty acid β-oxidation pathway, were overexpressed during the production of (2S)-naringenin in yeast. The level of acetyl-CoA was 0.205 nmol higher than that in the original strain and the production of (2S)-naringenin increased to 286.62 mg/g dry cell weight when PEX11 was overexpressed in S. cerevisiae strain L07. Remarkable (2S)-naringenin production (1129.44 mg/L) was achieved with fed-batch fermentation, with the highest titer reported in any microorganism. Our results demonstrated the use of fatty acid β-oxidation to increase the level of cytoplasmic acetyl-CoA and the production of its derivatives.