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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2023.05.24.542070

Cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid are metabolized to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid by Yarrowia lipolytica

Konzock, O.·Tous Mohedano, M.·Cibin, I.·Chen, Y.·Norbeck, J.
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Abstract

The transition towards a bioeconomy requires the microbial production of various products from renewable resources such as lignocellulosic hydrolysate. Yarrowia lipolytica has been explored as a potential production host for flavonoid synthesis due to its high tolerance to aromatic acids and ability to supply malonyl-CoA. However, little is known about its ability to consume the precursors cinnamic and p-coumaric acid. In this study, we demonstrate that Y. lipolytica can consume these precursors through multiple pathways that are partially dependent on the cultivation medium. We constructed a collection of 15 P450 protein knock-out strains to identify the genes responsible for the reaction and identified YALI1_B28430g as the gene encoding for a protein with a trans-cinnamate 4-monooxygenase activity that converts cinnamic acid to p-coumaric acid and named it TCM1. p-Coumaric acid in turn is further converted to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid. Our findings provide new insight into the metabolic capabilities of Y. lipolytica and will be essential for the future construction of better flavonoid production strains.

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Konzock, O., Tous Mohedano, M., Cibin, I., Chen, Y., Norbeck, J.. 2023-05-24. Cinnamic acid and p-coumaric acid are metabolized to 4-hydroxybenzoic acid by Yarrowia lipolytica. https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.24.542070

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