Rapid micro-assays for amylolytic activities determination: customization and validation of the tests

An Interplay between Transcription Factors and Recombinant Protein Synthesis in Yarrowia lipolytica at Transcriptional and Functional Levels-The Global View

Transcriptional regulatory networks (TRNs) associated with recombinant protein (rProt) synthesis in Yarrowia lipolytica are still under-described. Yet, it is foreseen that skillful manipulation with TRNs would enable global fine-tuning of the host strain's metabolism towards a high-level-producing phenotype. Our previous studies investigated the transcriptomes of Y. lipolytica strains overproducing biochemically different rProts and the functional impact of transcription factors (TFs) overexpression (OE) on rProt synthesis capacity in this species. Hence, much knowledge has been accumulated and deposited in public repositories. In this study, we combined both biological datasets and enriched them with further experimental data to investigate an interplay between TFs and rProts synthesis in Y. lipolytica at transcriptional and functional levels. Technically, the RNAseq datasets were extracted and re-analyzed for the TFs' expression profiles. Of the 140 TFs in Y. lipolytica, 87 TF-encoding genes were significantly deregulated in at least one of the strains. The expression profiles were juxtaposed against the rProt amounts from 125 strains co-overexpressing TF and rProt. In addition, several strains bearing knock-outs (KOs) in the TF loci were analyzed to get more insight into their actual involvement in rProt synthesis. Different profiles of the TFs' transcriptional deregulation and the impact of their OE or KO on rProts synthesis were observed, and new engineering targets were pointed.

Synthesis of Secretory Proteins in Yarrowia lipolytica: Effect of Combined Stress Factors and Metabolic Load

While overproduction of recombinant secretory proteins (rs-Prots) triggers multiple changes in the physiology of the producer cell, exposure to suboptimal growth conditions may further increase that biological response. The environmental conditions may modulate the efficiency of both the rs-Prot gene transcription and translation but also the polypeptide folding. Insights into responses elicited by different environmental stresses on the rs-Prots synthesis and host yeast physiology might contribute to a better understanding of fundamental biology processes, thus providing some clues to further optimise bioprocesses. Herein, a series of batch cultivations of Yarrowia lipolytica strains differentially metabolically burdened by the rs-Prots overproduction have been conducted. Combinations of different stress factors, namely pH (3/7) and oxygen availability (kLa 28/110 h^-1), have been considered for their impact on cell growth and morphology, substrate consumption, metabolic activity, genes expression, and secretion of the rs-Prots. Amongst others, our data demonstrate that a highly metabolically burdened cell has a higher demand for the carbon source, although presenting a compromised cell growth. Moreover, the observed decrease in rs-Prot production under adverse environmental conditions rather results from the emergence of a less-producing cell subpopulation than from the decrease of the synthetic capacity of the whole cell population.

Hyperosmolarity adversely impacts recombinant protein synthesis by Yarrowia lipolytica-molecular background revealed by quantitative proteomics

Abstract

In this research, we were interested in answering a question whether subjecting a Yarrowia lipolytica strain overproducing a recombinant secretory protein (rs-Prot) to pre-optimized stress factors may enhance synthesis of the rs-Prot. Increased osmolarity (3 Osm kg⁻¹) was the primary stress factor implemented alone or in combination with decreased temperature (20 °C), known to promote synthesis of rs-Prots. The treatments were executed in batch bioreactor cultures, and the cellular response was studied in terms of culture progression, gene expression and global proteomics, to get insight into molecular bases underlying an awaken reaction. Primarily, we observed that hyperosmolarity executed by high sorbitol concentration does not enhance synthesis of the rs-Prot but increases its transcription. Expectedly, hyperosmolarity induced synthesis of polyols at the expense of citric acid synthesis and growth, which was severely limited. A number of stress-related proteins were upregulated, including heat-shock proteins (HSPs) and aldo–keto reductases, as observed at transcriptomics and proteomics levels. Concerted downregulation of central carbon metabolism, including glycolysis, tricarboxylic acid cycle and fatty acid synthesis, highlighted redirection of carbon fluxes. Elevated abundance of HSPs and osmolytes did not outbalance the severe limitation of protein synthesis, marked by orchestrated downregulation of translation (elongation factors, several aa-tRNA synthetases), amino acid biosynthesis and ribosome biogenesis in response to the hyperosmolarity. Altogether we settled that increased osmolarity is not beneficial for rs-Prots synthesis in Y. lipolytica, even though some elements of the response could assist this process. Insight into global changes in the yeast proteome under the treatments is provided.

Key points

• Temp enhances, but Osm decreases rs-Prots synthesis by Y. lipolytica.

• Enhanced abundance of HSPs and osmolytes is overweighted by limited translation.

• Global proteome under Osm, Temp and Osm Temp treatments was studied.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s00253-021-11731-y.

Crystallization, structural characterization and kinetic analysis of a GH26 β-mannanase from Klebsiella oxytoca KUB-CW2-3

β-Mannanase (EC 3.2.1.78) is an enzyme that cleaves within the backbone of mannan-based polysaccharides at β-1,4-linked D-mannose residues, resulting in the formation of mannooligosaccharides (MOS), which are potential prebiotics. The GH26 β-mannanase KMAN from Klebsiella oxytoca KUB-CW2-3 shares 49-72% amino-acid sequence similarity with β-mannanases from other sources. The crystal structure of KMAN at a resolution of 2.57 Å revealed an open cleft-shaped active site. The enzyme structure is based on a (β/α)₈-barrel architecture, which is a typical characteristic of clan A glycoside hydrolase enzymes. The putative catalytic residues Glu183 and Glu282 are located on the loop connected to β-strand 4 and at the end of β-strand 7, respectively. KMAN digests linear MOS with a degree of polymerization (DP) of between 4 and 6, with high catalytic efficiency (k_cat/K_m) towards DP6 (2571.26 min^-1 mM^-1). The predominant end products from the hydrolysis of locust bean gum, konjac glucomannan and linear MOS are mannobiose and mannotriose. It was observed that KMAN requires at least four binding sites for the binding of substrate molecules and hydrolysis. Molecular docking of mannotriose and galactosyl-mannotetraose to KMAN confirmed its mode of action, which prefers linear substrates to branched substrates.

Thermal treatment improves a process of crude glycerol valorization for the production of a heterologous enzyme by Yarrowia lipolytica

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A crude glycerol valorization process to enzymatic preparation was developed.

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Impact of thermal treatment on the protein production by Y. lipolytica is studied.

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Pilot-scale processes with laboratory and technical substrates were simulated.

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Techno-economic analysis of a pilot-scale waste-free process was conducted.

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Comprehensive stream analysis and identification of bottlenecks is provided.

Valorization of crude glycerol requires a potent bifunctional biocatalyst, such as Yarrowia lipolytica, capable of high-density growth on this substrate, and having i.a. high propensity for heterologous protein synthesis. Increasing evidence suggests that controlled administration of stress, i.a. thermal treatment, has a positive impact on bioprocess performance. In this study, we systematically adjusted thermal treatment conditions (20 to 42 °C) in order to maximize heterologous protein production by Y. lipolytica growing in crude glycerol-based medium. Our results showed nearly 30% enhancement in the enzyme production triggered by temporary exposure to decreased temperature. Here developed mathematical model indicated optimal treatment conditions (20 °C, 153′) that were later applied to a process with biodiesel-derived glycerol and technical substrates. Techno-economic analysis of a pilot-scale-waste-free process was conducted. Quantitative description of the associated costs and economic gain due to exploitation of industrial substrates, as well as indication of current bottlenecks of the process, are also provided.

Global transcriptome profiling reveals genes responding to overproduction of a small secretory, a high cysteine- and a high glycosylation-bearing protein in Yarrowia lipolytica

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Secretion of a protein results in > 10-fold higher titer compared to its retention.

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Overproduction of rs-Prots induces oxidative stress and detoxification response.

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Excessive vacuolar protein degradation limits rs-Prot production in Y. lipolytica.

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Non-classical export protein NCE102 is upregulated upon rs-Prot overloading.

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Downregulation of cyclin CLN1 marks growth arrest in G1 under rs-Prot synthesis.

Investigation of the yeast cell’s response to recombinant secretory protein (rs-Prot) overproduction is relevant for both basic and applied research. Imbalance, overloading or stress within this process impacts the whole cell. In the present study, by using steady-state cultures and transcriptomics, we investigated the cellular response of Yarrowia lipolytica challenged with high-level expression of genes encoding proteins with significantly different biochemical characteristics: a small protein retained within the cell i) or secreted ii), a medium size secretory protein with a high number of disulfide bonds iii), or glycosylation sites iv). Extensive analysis of omics data, supported by careful manual curation, led to some anticipated observations on oxidative and unfolded protein stress (CTT1, PXMP2/4, HAC1), glycosylation (ALGs, KTRs, MNTs, MNNs), folding and translocation (SSAs, SSEs) but also generated new exciting knowledge on non-conventional protein secretion (NCE102), transcriptional regulators (FLO11, MHY1, D01353 g, RSFA, E23925g or MAF1), vacuolar proteolysis targets in Y. lipolytica (ATGs, VPSs, HSE1, PRB1, PRC1, PEP4) or growth arrest (CLN1) upon rs-Prots overproduction.

Hydrolytic secretome engineering in Yarrowia lipolytica for consolidated bioprocessing on polysaccharide resources: review on starch, cellulose, xylan, and inulin

Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) featuring concomitant hydrolysis of renewable substrates and microbial conversion into value-added biomolecules is considered to bring substantial benefits to the overall process efficiency. The biggest challenge in developing an economically feasible CBP process is identification of bifunctional biocatalyst merging the ability to utilize the substrate and convert it to value-added product with high efficiency. Yarrowia lipolytica is known for its exceptional performance in hydrophobic substrates assimilation and storage. On the other hand, its capacity to grow on plant-derived biomass is strongly limited. Still, its high potential to simultaneously overproduce several secretory proteins makes Y. lipolytica a platform of choice for expanding its substrate range to complex polysaccharides by engineering its hydrolytic secretome. This review provides an overview of different genetic engineering strategies advancing development of Y. lipolytica strains able to grow on the following four complex polysaccharides: starch, cellulose, xylan, and inulin. Much attention has been paid to genome mining studies uncovering native potential of this species to assimilate untypical sugars, as in many cases it turns out that dormant pathways are present in Y. lipolytica's genome. In addition, the magnitude of the economic gain by CBP processing is here discussed and supported with adequate calculations based on simulated process models. KEY POINTS: • The mini-review updates the knowledge on polysaccharide-utilizing Yarrowia lipolytica. • Insight into molecular bases founding new biochemical qualities is provided. • Model industrial processes were simulated and the associated costs were calculated.

Impact of overproduced heterologous protein characteristics on physiological response in Yarrowia lipolytica steady-state-maintained continuous cultures

Overproduction of recombinant secretory proteins triggers numerous physiological perturbations. Depending on a given heterologous protein characteristics, the producer cell is faced with different challenges which lead to varying responses in terms of its physiology and the target protein production rate. In the present study, we used steady-state-maintained Yarrowia lipolytica cells to investigate the impact of different heterologous proteins on the physiological behavior of the host cells. Such an approach allowed to uncouple the impact of the overproduction of a particular protein from the phenomena that result from growth phase or are caused by the heterogeneity of the analyzed populations. Altogether, eight variants of recombinant strains, individually overproducing heterologous proteins of varying molecular weight (27-65 kDa) and reporting activity (enzymatic and fluorescent) were subjected to chemostat cultivations. The steady-state-maintained cells were analyzed in terms of the substrate utilization, biomass and metabolites production, as well as the reporter protein synthesis. Simplified distribution of carbon and nitrogen between the respective products, as well as expression analysis of the heterologous genes were conducted. The here-obtained data suggest that using a more transcriptionally active promoter results in channeling more C flux towards the target protein, giving significantly higher specific amounts and production rates of the target polypeptide, at the cost of biomass accumulation, and with no significant impact on the polyols production. The extent of the reporter protein's post-translational modifications, i.e., the number of disulfide bonds and glycosylation pattern, strongly impacts the synthesis process. Specific responses in terms of the protein formation kinetics, the gene expression levels, and transcript-to-protein linearity were observed.Key Points• Eight expression systems, producing different reporter proteins were analyzed.• The cells were maintained in steady-state by continuous chemostat culturing.• Protein- and promoter-specific effects were observed.

Optimization of Yarrowia lipolytica-based consolidated biocatalyst through synthetic biology approach: transcription units and signal peptides shuffling

Nowadays considerable effort is being pursued towards development of consolidated microbial biocatalysts that will be able to utilize complex, non-pretreated substrates and produce valuable compounds. In such engineered microbes, synthesis of extracellular hydrolases may be fine-tuned by different approaches, like strength of promoter, type of secretory tag, and gene copy number. In this study, we investigated if organization of a multi-element expression cassette impacts the resultant Yarrowia lipolytica transformants' phenotype, presuming that different variants of the cassette are composed of the same regulatory elements and encode the same mature proteins. To this end, Y. lipolytica cells were transformed with expression cassettes bearing a pair of genes encoding exactly the same mature amylases, but fused to four different signal peptides (SP), and located interchangeably in either first or second position of a synthetic DNA construction. The resultant strains were tested for growth on raw and pretreated complex substrates of different plant origin for comprehensive examination of the strains' acquired characteristics. Optimized strain was tested in batch bioreactor cultivations for growth and lipids accumulation. Based on the conducted research, we concluded that the positional order of transcription units (TU) and the type of exploited SP affect final characteristics of the resultant consolidated biocatalyst strains, and thus could be considered as additional factors to be evaluated upon consolidated biocatalysts optimization. KEY POINTS: • Y. lipolytica growing on raw starch was constructed and tested on different substrates. • Impact of expression cassette design and SP on biocatalysts' phenotype was evidenced. • Consolidated biocatalyst process for lipids production from starch was conducted.

Production of Raw Starch-Digesting Amylolytic Preparation in Yarrowia lipolytica and Its Application in Biotechnological Synthesis of Lactic Acid and Ethanol

Sustainable economy drives increasing demand for raw biomass-decomposing enzymes. Microbial expression platforms exploited as cellular factories of such biocatalysts meet requirements of large-volume production. Previously, we developed Yarrowia lipolytica recombinant strains able to grow on raw starch of different plant origin. In the present study, we used the most efficient amylolytic strain as a microbial cell factory of raw-starch-digesting (RSD) amylolytic preparation composed of two enzymes. The RSD-preparation was produced in fed-batch bioreactor cultures. Concentrated and partly purified preparation was then tested in simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) processes with thermotolerant Kluyveromyces marxianus for ethanol production and Lactobacillus plantarum for production of lactic acid. These processes were conducted as a proof-of-concept that application of the novel RSD-preparation supports sufficient starch hydrolysis enabling microbial growth and production of targeted molecules, as the selected strains were confirmed to lack amylolytic activity. Doses of the preparation and thermal conditions were individually adjusted for the two processes. Additionally, ethanol production was tested under different aeration strategies; and lactic acid production process was tested in thermally pre-treated substrate, as well. Conducted studies demonstrated that the novel RSD-preparation provides satisfactory starch hydrolyzing activity for ethanol and lactic acid production from starch by non-amylolytic microorganisms.