Engineering of Artificial Plant Cytochrome P450 Enzymes for Synthesis of Isoflavones by Escherichia coli

Engineered microbes are becoming increasingly important as recombinant production platforms. However, the nonfunctionality of membrane-bound cytochrome P450 enzymes precludes the use of industrially relevant prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli for high-level in vivo synthesis of many functional plant-derived compounds. We describe the design of a series of artificial isoflavone synthases that allowed the robust production of plant estrogen pharmaceuticals by E. coli. Through this methodology, a plant P450 construct was assembled to mimic the architecture of a self-sufficient bacterial P450 and contained tailor-made membrane recognition signals. The specific in vivo production catalyzed by one identified chimera was up to 20-fold higher than that achieved by the native enzyme expressed in a eukaryotic host and up to 10-fold higher than production by plants. This novel biological device is a strategy for the utilization of laboratory bacteria to robustly manufacture high-value plant P450 products.