Construction of fungal platform for plant terpenoid production by synthetic biological approach

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 25850063
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research
• Principal Investigator: KATO Naoki 独立行政法人理化学研究所, 環境資源科学研究センター, 研究員 (90442946)
• Project Period (FY): 2013-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 糸状菌 / 物質生産 / 生合成経路 / テルペノイド

Outline of Final Research Achievements

There is an increasing need for microbial platforms to convert from renewable resources such as biomass to valuable chemicals. To this end, we undertook the construction of an alternative platform using filamentous fungi, particularly for the plant terpenoid production. As a part of the study, we generated a fungal transformant carrying a biosynthetic pathway for botryococcene, which is a triterpenoid produced by a green alga, Botryococcus braunii. Introduction of the codon-optimized genes enabled us to detect the production of botryococcene in the fungal host. We also engineered precursor supply for the improved terpenoid production.

Free Research Field

農学、農芸化学、応用微生物学