MSc defence Ling Chen

Title: Optimization of glucosinolate production in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Supervisors: Prof Barbara Ann Halkier & Postdoc Cuiwei Wang
Censor: Prof Uffe Hasbro Mortensen, DTU

 Abstract:
Glucosinolates are phytochemicals produced mainly by plants in the Brassicales order. They are important defense compounds for the plants and for humans they have health-promoting effects. This has primed a desire to bioengineer the production of these compounds in a microbial cell factory to enable intake of a high and reliable dose of the health-promoting glucosinolates. The thesis focus on optimization of glucotropaeolin production. Several strategies to alleviate bottlenecks in glucotropaeolin production are employed. For example, fusing the last two enzymes (UGT74B1 and SOT16) in the pathway together was found to increased the desulfoglucotropaeolin level, while the glucotropaeolin level remains unchanged. In addition, a 3-fold increase of amino acid concentration in the medium indicates a positive impact on the desulfoglucotropaeolin level. The optimizations strategies did not improve glucotropaeolin, but desulfoglucotropaeolin production. Future studies will focus on further optimization of this metabolic bottleneck in glucotropaeolin production in yeast.

Reception will be in M117-1 after the examination