Parthenolide, a kind of sesquiterpene
lactone, is the direct precursor
for the promising anti-glioblastoma drug ACT001. Compared with traditional
parthenolide source from plant extraction, de novo biosynthesis of
parthenolide in microorganisms has the potential to make a sustainable
supply. Herein, an integrated strategy was designed with P450 source
screening, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) supply,
and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) size rewiring to manipulate three P450s
regarded as the bottleneck for parthenolide production. Germacrene
A oxidase from Cichorium intybus, costunolide
synthase from Lactuca sativa, and parthenolide
synthase from Tanacetum parthenium have
the best efficiency, resulting in a parthenolide titer of 2.19 mg/L,
which was first achieved in yeast. The parthenolide titer was further
increased by 300% with NADPH supplementation and ER expanding stepwise.
Finally, the highest titers of 31.0 mg/L parthenolide and 648.5 mg/L
costunolide in microbes were achieved in 2.0 L fed-batch fermentation.
This study not only provides an alternative microbial platform for
producing sesquiterpene lactones in a sustainable way but also highlights
a general strategy for manipulating multiple plant-derived P450s in
microbes.