Boosting titers of engineered triketide and tetraketide synthases to record levels through T7 promoter tuning

Modular polyketide synthases (PKS's) are promising platforms for the rational engineering of designer poly-ketides and commodity chemicals, yet their low productivities are a barrier to the practical biosynthesis of these compounds. Previously, we engineered triketide lactone synthases such as Pik167 using the recently updated module definition and showed they generate hundreds of milligrams of product per liter of Escherichia coli K207-3 shake flask culture. As the molar ratio between the 2 polypeptides of Pik167 is highly skewed, we sought to attenuate the strength of the T7 promoter controlling the production of the smaller, better-expressing poly-peptide and thereby increase production of the first polypeptide under the control of an unoptimized T7 pro-moter. Through this strategy, a 1.8-fold boost in titer was obtained. After a further 1.5-fold boost obtained by increasing the propionate concentration in the media from 20 to 80 mM, a record titer of 791 mg L-1 (627 mg L-1 isolated) was achieved, a 2.6-fold increase overall. Spurred on by this result, the tetraketide synthase Pik1567 was engineered and the T7 promoter attenuation strategy was applied to its second and third genes. A 5-fold boost, from 20 mg L-1 to 100 mg L-1, in the titer of its tetraketide product was achieved.

Automated summary

By attenuating the strength of T7 promoter and increasing the concentration of propionate, the productivity of modular polyketide synthases was significantly improved, providing a more efficient approach for the synthesis of designer polyketides and commodity chemicals.