Enhanced (-)-α-bisabolol productivity by efficient conversion of mevalonate in Escherichia coli

Abstract

(-)-α-Bisabolol, a naturally occurring sesquiterpene alcohol, has been used in pharmaceuticals and cosmetics owing to its beneficial effects on inflammation and skin healing. Previously, we reported the high production of (-)-α-bisabolol by fed-batch fermentation using engineered Escherichia coli (E. coli) expressing the exogenous mevalonate (MVA) pathway genes. The productivity of (-)-α-bisabolol must be improved before industrial application. Here, we report enhancement of initial (-)-α-bisabolol productivity to 3-fold higher than that observed in our previous study. We first harnessed a farnesyl pyrophosphate (FPP)-resistant mevalonate kinase 1 (MvaK1) from an archaeon Methanosarcina mazei (M. mazei) to create a more efficient heterologous MVA pathway that produces (-)-α-bisabolol in the engineered E. coli. The resulting strain produced 1.7-fold higher (-)-α-bisabolol relative to the strain expressing a feedback-inhibitory MvaK1 from Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). Next, to efficiently convert accumulated MVA to (-)-α-bisabolol, we additionally overexpressed genes involved in the lower MVA mevalonate pathway in E. coli containing the entire MVA pathway genes. (-)-α-Bisabolol production increased by 1.8-fold with reduction of MVA accumulation, relative to the control strain. Finally, we optimized the fermentation conditions including inducer concentration, aeration and enzymatic cofactor. The strain was able to produce 8.5 g/L of (-)-α-bisabolol with an initial productivity of 0.12 g/L h in the optimal fed-batch fermentation. Thus, the microbial production of (-)-α-bisabolol would be an economically viable bioprocess for its industrial application.