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Chen R, Chen X, Chen Y, Yang J, Chen W, Zhou YJ, Zhang L. De novo biosynthesis of plant lignans by synthetic yeast consortia. Nat Chem Biol 2025:10.1038/s41589-025-01861-z. [PMID: 40097736 DOI: 10.1038/s41589-025-01861-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/20/2024] [Accepted: 02/19/2025] [Indexed: 03/19/2025]
Abstract
Reconstructing the biosynthesis of complex natural products such as lignans in yeast is challenging and can result in metabolic promiscuity, affecting the biosynthetic efficiency. Here we divide the lignan biosynthetic pathway across a synthetic yeast consortium with obligated mutualism and use ferulic acid as a metabolic bridge. This cooperative system successfully overcomes the metabolic promiscuity and synthesizes the common precursor, coniferyl alcohol. Furthermore, combined with systematic engineering strategies, we achieve the de novo synthesis of key lignan skeletons, pinoresinol and lariciresinol, and verify the scalability of the consortium by synthesizing complex lignans, including antiviral lariciresinol diglucoside. These results provide a starting engineering platform for the heterologous synthesis of lignans. In particular, the study illustrates that the yeast consortium with obligate mutualism is a promising strategy that mimics the metabolic division of labor among multiple plant cells, thereby improving the biosynthesis of long pathways and complex natural products.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruibing Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, School of Pharmacy, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
- Division of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China
- State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, Beijing, China
| | - Xianghui Chen
- Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, School of Pharmacy, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
- School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
- College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Key Laboratory of Plant Secondary Metabolism and Regulation of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China
| | - Yu Chen
- Key Laboratory of Quantitative Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institute of Synthetic Biology, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen, China
| | - Jindong Yang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, School of Pharmacy, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China
| | - Wansheng Chen
- Department of Pharmacy, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
| | - Yongjin J Zhou
- Division of Biotechnology, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian, China.
- State Key Laboratory for Quality Ensurance and Sustainable Use of Dao-di Herbs, Beijing, China.
| | - Lei Zhang
- Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, School of Pharmacy, Naval Medical University, Shanghai, China.
- School of Medicine, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
- College of Life Sciences and Medicine, Key Laboratory of Plant Secondary Metabolism and Regulation of Zhejiang Province, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, China.
- Institute of Interdisciplinary Integrative Medicine Research, School of Medicine, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
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