Proteomics analysis of metabolically engineered yeast cells and medium-chained hydrocarbon biofuel precursors synthesis

Recently, various biofuels have been synthesized through metabolic engineering approaches to meet the exploding energy demands. Hydrocarbon biofuels, energy-equivalent to petroleum-based fuels, are identified as promising replacements for petroleum. Metabolically engineered Saccharomyces cerevisiae capable of synthesize precursors of medium-chained hydrocarbons is proposed in this study. The hydroperoxide pathway introduced in S. cerevisiae consisted of lipoxygenase (LOX) and hydroperoxide lyase (HPL) from almond, which catalyzes linoleic acid to 3(Z)-nonenal, the precursor for medium-chained hydrocarbon biofuels. Proteomics study showed that 31 proteins displayed different expression levels among four functional strains and most of them were related to carbohydrate metabolism and protein synthesis, suggested prospective capabilities of energy generation and exogenous protein synthesis. Biotransformation efficiency studies carried out by GC-FID were in accordance with the expectations. The highest yield of 3(Z)-nonenal was up to 1.21 ± 0.05 mg/L with the carbon recovery of up to 12.4%.