title: Synthesis of the food flavoring methyl benzoate by genetically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae.
abstract: Current means of production for plant-derived aroma compounds include chemical synthesis and extraction from plant material. Both methods are environmentally detrimental and relatively expensive: plant material is only seasonally available and only a small subset of the plant biomass produces the desired aroma compounds, while organic synthesis inevitably involves waste byproducts with a negative ecological impact. Benzenoids are a class of plant metabolites that includes a number of aroma compounds. This paper explores, for the first time, the feasibility of producing benzenoids in yeast. We present a method for the production of the phenylpropanoid methyl benzoate in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using benzoic acid as a substrate, by heterologous expression of Antirrhinum majus benzoic acid methyl transferase. Production was pH dependent with a maximal yield of approximately 50 microg of methyl benzoate per liter of culture per hour, and with linear kinetics over at least 24 h. In addition, we have analyzed two alternative expression vectors for the production of benzoic acid methyl transferase in S. cerevisiae: a constitutive triosephosphate isomerase promoter-based system was compared with a copper-inducible CUP1 promoter system. We find major differences in the amounts of methylbenzoate produced by these respective systems. Potential applications are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Food Science, The Hebrew University of, Jerusalem, Rehovot 76100, Israel.
authors.forename: Moran
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Farhi
authors.forename: Natalia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Dudareva
authors.forename: Tania
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Masci
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Vainstein
authors.forename: Hagai
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Abeliovich
mesh_terms: D032161:Antirrhinum / Q000201:enzymology*; D001565:Benzoates / Q000378:metabolism*; D019817:Benzoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D005421:Flavoring Agents / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D005818:Genetic Engineering; D008780:Methyltransferases / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001565:Benzoates; D005421:Flavoring Agents; D010940:Plant Proteins; C044605:methyl benzoate; D019817:Benzoic Acid; C412548:BAMT protein, Antirrhinum majus; D008780:Methyltransferases