Development and applications of yeast-based metabolite sensor for high efficient production of valuable products

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K15734
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 38020:Applied microbiology-related
• Research Institution: Kobe University
• Principal Investigator: Nakamura Yasuyuki 神戸大学, 科学技術イノベーション研究科, 特命助教 (40733184)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 酵母 / バイオセンサ / ドーパミン / シグナル伝達 / Gタンパク質共役型受容体 / レポーター遺伝子

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In the present study, we constructed the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) metabolite sensor that permits the easy evaluation of dopamine production levels by a green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter gene using the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and further established several fundamental techniques for enabling the high-throughput screening of modified strains with higher levels of dopamine production. Using the constructed yeast metabolite sensor, we verified that the fluorescence values obtained have correlated well with the dopamine concentrations produced in engineered strains. In near future, the use of constructed sensors will make it possible to quickly attain the strain breeding for high productivity from a large-scale library. Since this system is applicable to the development of metabolite sensors to detect other compounds except for dopamine by replacing the GPCRs, we expectedly envision the applications to the rapid strain development.

Free Research Field

合成生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究では、目的物質であるドーパミンのメタボライトセンサを構築し、代謝改変した酵母株が発酵生産するドーパミンの生産量に応じて酵母細胞がセンシングを行なうシステムの開発に成功した。本研究で構築したドーパミンセンサを用いることで、ドーパミン高生産能力を示す菌株育種への応用が期待される。本研究で用いたメタボライトセンサ構築技術は、ドーパミン以外の有用化合物のセンサ構築にも応用できるものであり、様々な高付加価値物質の高生産株の育種技術開発のためのフレームワークを提供する。