Successful biosynthesis of natural antioxidant ergothioneine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae required only two genes from Grifola frondosa.

Background: Ergothioneine (EGT) has a unique antioxidant ability and diverse beneficial effects on human health. But the content of EGT is very low in its natural producing organisms such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and mushrooms. Therefore, it is necessary to highly efficient heterologous production of EGT in food-grade yeasts such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae.