Biosynthesis of natural flavanones in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

A four-step flavanone biosynthetic pathway was constructed and introduced into Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The recombinant yeast strain was fed with phenylpropanoid acids and produced the flavanones naringenin and pinocembrin 62 and 22 times more efficiently compared to previously reported recombinant prokaryotic strains. Microbial biosynthesis of the flavanone eriodictyol was also achieved.