Deorphanizing solute carriers in for secondary uptake of xenobiotic compounds.

The exchange of small molecules between the cell and the environment happens through transporter proteins. Besides nutrients and native metabolic products, xenobiotic molecules are also transported, however it is not well understood which transporters are involved. In this study, by combining exo-metabolome screening in yeast with transporter characterization in oocytes, we mapped the activity of 30 yeast transporters toward six small non-toxic substrates.

Engineering precursor supply for the high-level production of ergothioneine in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Ergothioneine (ERG) is an unusual sulfur-containing amino acid. It is a potent antioxidant, which shows great potential for ameliorating neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. L-ergothioneine is rare in nature, with mushrooms being the primary dietary source.

Engineering ergothioneine production in Yarrowia lipolytica.

Ergothioneine is a naturally occurring antioxidant that has shown potential in ameliorating neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. In this study, we investigated the potential of the Crabtree-negative, oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica as an alternative host for ergothioneine production. We expressed the biosynthetic enzymes EGT1 from Neurospora crassa and EGT2 from Claviceps purpurea to obtain 158 mg·L of ergothioneine in small-scale cultivation, with an additional copy of each gene improving the titer to 205 mg·L .

Transporter engineering in microbial cell factories: the ins, the outs, and the in-betweens.

Engineering the transport of small molecules is an effective approach to improve the performance of microbial cell factories. Transporter engineering can improve the utilization of low-cost alternative substrates, reduce the loss of pathway intermediates, and increase the titer and production rate of the target product. However, transporters are not commonly engineered in strain development programs because the functions of most of the transport proteins are not known.

The biology of ergothioneine, an antioxidant nutraceutical.

Ergothioneine (ERG) is an unusual thio-histidine betaine amino acid that has potent antioxidant activities. It is synthesised by a variety of microbes, especially fungi (including in mushroom fruiting bodies) and actinobacteria, but is not synthesised by plants and animals who acquire it via the soil and their diet, respectively. Animals have evolved a highly selective transporter for it, known as solute carrier family 22, member 4 (SLC22A4) in humans, signifying its importance, and ERG may even have the status of a vitamin.

Engineering the Yeast for the Production of L-(+)-Ergothioneine.

L-(+)-Ergothioneine (ERG) is an unusual, naturally occurring antioxidant nutraceutical that has been shown to help reduce cellular oxidative damage. Humans do not biosynthesise ERG, but acquire it from their diet; it exploits a specific transporter (SLC22A4) for its uptake. ERG is considered to be a nutraceutical and possible vitamin that is involved in the maintenance of health, and seems to be at too low a concentration in several diseases .

Engineering energetically efficient transport of dicarboxylic acids in yeast .

Biobased C4-dicarboxylic acids are attractive sustainable precursors for polymers and other materials. Commercial scale production of these acids at high titers requires efficient secretion by cell factories. In this study, we characterized 7 dicarboxylic acid transporters in oocytes and in engineered for dicarboxylic acid production.

The Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison phase 1 simulation dataset.

The Global Gridded Crop Model Intercomparison (GGCMI) phase 1 dataset of the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) provides an unprecedentedly large dataset of crop model simulations covering the global ice-free land surface. The dataset consists of annual data fields at a spatial resolution of 0.5 arc-degree longitude and latitude.

How do various maize crop models vary in their responses to climate change factors?

Potential consequences of climate change on crop production can be studied using mechanistic crop simulation models. While a broad variety of maize simulation models exist, it is not known whether different models diverge on grain yield responses to changes in climatic factors, or whether they agree in their general trends related to phenology, growth, and yield. With the goal of analyzing the sensitivity of simulated yields to changes in temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations [CO2 ], we present the largest maize crop model intercomparison to date, including 23 different models.