Jianing Han;Yinan Wu;Yilun Zhou;Sijin L

Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 230A Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, US;Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 230A Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, USA;Robert Frederick Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, 230A Olin Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853 USA.

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs);Metabolic engineering;Saccharomyces cerevisiae;Synthetic biolog

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a diverse family of plant natural products with extensive pharmacological properties, but the yield of BIAs from plant is limited. The understanding of BIA biosynthetic mechanism in plant and the development of synthetic biology enable the possibility to produce BIAs through microbial fermentation, as an alternative to agriculture-based supply chains. In this review, we discussed the engineering strategies to synthesize BIAs in Saccharomyces cerevisiae (yeast) and improve BIA production level, including heterologous pathway reconstruction, enzyme engineering, expression regulation, host engineering and fermentation engineering. We also highlight recent metabolic engineering advances in the production of BIAs in yeast.