Metabolic engineering of Rhodococcus ruber Chol-4: A cell factory for testosterone production

PLoS One. 2019 Jul 26;14(7):e0220492. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220492. eCollection 2019.

Abstract

Rhodococcus ruber Chol-4 is a potent steroid degrader that has a great potential as a biotechnological tool. As proof of concept, this work presents testosterone production from 4-androstene-3,17-dione by tailoring innate catabolic enzymes of the steroid catabolism inside the strain. A R. ruber quadruple mutant was constructed in order to avoid the breakage of the steroid nucleus. At the same time, an inducible expression vector for this strain was developed. The 17-ketoreductase gene from the fungus Cochliobolus lunatus was cloned and overexpressed in this vector. The engineered strain was able to produce testosterone from 4-androstene-3,17-dione using glucose for cofactor regeneration with a molar conversion of 61%. It is important to note that 91% of the testosterone was secreted outside the cell after 3 days of cell biotransformation. The results support the idea that Rhodococcus ruber Chol-4 can be metabolically engineered and can be used for the production of steroid intermediates.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • 17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / genetics
  • 17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases / metabolism*
  • Bacterial Proteins / genetics
  • Bacterial Proteins / metabolism*
  • Biotransformation
  • Metabolic Engineering / methods*
  • Recombinant Proteins / genetics
  • Recombinant Proteins / metabolism
  • Rhodococcus / genetics*
  • Rhodococcus / growth & development
  • Rhodococcus / metabolism*
  • Testosterone / metabolism*

Substances

  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Recombinant Proteins
  • Testosterone
  • 17-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenases

Supplementary concepts

  • Rhodococcus ruber

Grants and funding

This work was supported by project RTC-2014-2249-1 from MINECO, Spain, to GG. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.