(632d) Establishment of an Efficient Bacterium-Yeast Consortium for Biosynthesis and Discovery of Strigolactones

Strigolactones (SLs) are a class of valuable phytohormones with great agricultural significance in plant growth and development, yet the limited access to SLs largely hampers the SL-based foundational investigations and large-scale applications. Here, we developed an efficient Escherichia coli-Saccharomyces cerevisiae consortia for the high yield production of various SLs, including carlactone, carlactonoic acid, 5-deoxystrigol (5DS), 4-deoxyorobanchol (4DO), and orobanchol (OB), as well as for the discovery of novel SLs. The SL-producing microbial biosynthetic system enabled us to functionally characterize and compare unknown SL-related CYP450s from diverse plant species. We also demonstrated the great potential of engineering a 2-strain co-culture system. Through multiple metabolic engineering strategies, SL titers were enhanced from original μg/L to low mg/L, which enables the identification of novel SLs and biosynthetic enzymes. Our work provides a robust and promising platform for investigating the SL biosynthesis and evolution and lays the foundation for expanding the repertoire of new SLs in microbial hosts.