The important ergot alkaloid intermediate chanoclavine-I produced in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae by the combined action of EasC and EasE from Aspergillus japonicus

摘要

BackgroundErgot alkaloids are a group of highly bioactive molecules produced by a number of filamentous fungi. These compounds have been intensely studied for decades, mainly due to their deleterious effects in contaminated food and feeds, but also for their beneficial pharmaceutical and agricultural applications. Biosynthesis of ergot alkaloids goes via the common intermediate chanoclavine-I, and studies of the key enzymes, EasE and EasC, involved in chanoclavine-I formation, have relied on gene complementation in fungi, whereas further characterization has been hampered by difficulties of poor EasE protein expression. In order to facilitate the study of ergot alkaloids, and eventually move towards commercial production, the early steps of the biosynthetic pathway were reconstituted in the unicellular yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.