Heterologous pulcherrimin production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae confers inhibitory activity on Botrytis conidiation

Florian M Freimoser, Marina Mahler, Mark McCullough, Alexander O Brachmann, Lukas Nägeli, Maja Hilber-Bodmer, Jörn Piel, Stefan A Hoffmann, Yizhi Cai

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Pulcherrimin is an iron (III) chelate of pulcherriminic acid that plays a role in antagonistic microbial interactions, iron metabolism, and stress responses. Some bacteria and yeasts produce pulcherriminic acid, but so far, pulcherrimin could not be produced in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Here, multiple integrations of the Metschnikowia pulcherrima PUL1 and PUL2 genes in the S. cerevisiae genome resulted in red colonies, which indicated pulcherrimin formation. The coloration correlated positively and significantly with the number of PUL1 and PUL2 genes. The presence of pulcherriminic acid was confirmed by mass spectrometry. In vitro competition assays with the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis caroliana revealed inhibitory activity on conidiation by an engineered, strong pulcherrimin-producing S. cerevisiae strain. We demonstrate that the PUL1 and PUL2 genes from M. pulcherrima, in multiple copies, are sufficient to transfer pulcherrimin production to S. cerevisiae and represent the starting point for engineering and optimizing this biosynthetic pathway in the future.

Original languageEnglish
JournalFEMS Yeast Research
Volume24
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 9 Jan 2024

Keywords

  • Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics
  • Botrytis/genetics
  • Metschnikowia/genetics
  • Iron/metabolism

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