Compound K (CK) is a rare, tetracyclic, triterpenoid compound with important medical properties, such as antitumor and anti-inflammatory activities. Herein, an efficient biosynthetic pathway of CK was constructed in metabolically engineered Yarrowia lipolytica for the first time, and the engineered strain, YL-CK0, produced 5.1 mg/L CK. The production of CK was further increased by 5.96-fold to 30.4 mg/L with overexpression of key genes in the MVA pathway and fusion of cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (PPDS) and NADPH-P450 reductase. Finally, 161.8 mg/L CK production was achieved by fed-batch fermentation in a 5 L fermenter using the strain YL-MVA-CK. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on heterologous CK synthesis with the highest titer in Y. lipolytica. This study demonstrates the feasibility of producing high-value triterpenoid compounds using Y. lipolytica as a platform.
Keywords: Yarrowia lipolytica; compound K; cytochrome P450 monooxygenase; metabolic engineering.