Exploiting a heterologous construction of the 3-hydroxypropionic acid carbon fixation pathway with mesaconate as an indicator in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The 3-Hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) pathway is one of the six known natural carbon fixation pathways, in which the carbon species used is bicarbonate. It has been considered to be the most suitable pathway for aerobic CO2 fixation among the six natural carbon fixation pathways. Mesaconate is a high value-added derivative in the 3-HP pathway and can be used as a co-monomer to produce fire-retardant materials and hydrogels. In this study, we use mesaconate as a reporting compound to evaluate the construction and optimization of the sub-part of the 3-HP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Combined with fine-tuning of the malonyl-CoA reductase (MCR-C and MCR-N) expression level and optimization of 3-Hydroxypropionyl-CoA synthase, the 3-HP sub-pathway was optimized using glucose or ethanol as the substrate, with the productions of mesaconate reaching 90.78 and 61.2 mg/L, respectively.

Automated summary

The 3-HP pathway is a natural carbon fixation pathway that utilizes bicarbonate as the carbon source. It has been regarded as the most suitable pathway for aerobic CO2 fixation among the six natural carbon fixation pathways. Mesaconate, a valuable derivative in the 3-HP pathway, can be used for the production of fire-retardant materials and hydrogels. This study optimized the sub-part of the 3-HP pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae using mesaconate as a reporting compound. By fine-tuning the expression level of malonyl-CoA reductase and optimizing 3-Hydroxypropionyl-CoA synthase, the 3-HP sub-pathway achieved mesaconate productions of 90.78 mg/L and 61.2 mg/L using glucose and ethanol as substrates, respectively.