Engineering of synthetic, stress-responsive yeast promoters.
Advances in synthetic biology and our understanding of the rules of promoter architecture have led to the development of diverse synthetic constitutive and inducible promoters in eukaryotes and prokaryotes. However, the design of promoters inducible by specific endogenous or environmental conditions is still rarely undertaken. In this study, we engineered and characterized a set of strong, synthetic promoters for budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae that are inducible under acidic conditions (pH ≤ 3). Using available expression and transcription factor binding data, literature on transcriptional regulation, and known rules of promoter architecture we improved the low-pH performance of the YGP1 promoter by modifying transcription factor binding sites in its upstream activation sequence. The engineering strategy outlined for the YGP1 promoter was subsequently applied to create a response to low pH in the unrelated CCW14 promoter. We applied our best promoter variants to low-pH fermentations, enabling ten-fold increased production of lactic acid compared to titres obtained with the commonly used, native TEF1 promoter. Our findings outline and validate a general strategy to iteratively design and engineer synthetic yeast promoters inducible to environmental conditions or stresses of interest.
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.
Arun S
AS
Rajkumar
Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Guodong
G
Liu
Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden.
David
D
Bergenholm
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.
Dushica
D
Arsovska
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark.
Mette
M
Kristensen
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark Department of Biology and Biological Engineering, Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Chalmers University of Technology, SE-412 96, Gothenburg, Sweden.
Jens
J
Nielsen
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark mije@biosustain.dtu.dk.
Michael K
MK
Jensen
The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, 2970 Hørsholm, Denmark Joint BioEnergy Institute, Emeryville, CA 94608, USA Biological Systems & Engineering Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering & Department of Bioengineering University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Jay D
JD
Keasling
D001665:Binding Sites / Q000235:genetics; D005285:Fermentation; D005453:Fluorescence; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D019344:Lactic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D011401:Promoter Regions, Genetic; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000235:genetics*; D058615:Synthetic Biology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism
D012333:RNA, Messenger; D029701:Saccharomyces cerevisiae Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors; D019344:Lactic Acid