Perspectives on the design of microbial cell factories to produce prenylflavonoids

Abstract

Prenylflavonoids are flavonoid-derived compounds characterized by the presence of a lipophilic prenylated side-chain in the flavonoid skeleton. These compounds are present in several food supplements and food products, and have a wide variety of recognized biological activities, namely estrogenic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anticancer. Since these compounds are present in nature in very low amounts, their extraction from plants is not enough to fulfill the current demand, besides being an inefficient and environmentally unfriendly process. For these reasons, the use of microorganisms as microbial cell factories represents an interesting alternative to produce prenylflavonoids in a faster and cheaper way. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used as chassis to produce prenylflavonoids. Moreover, Escherichia coli can also emerge as an alternative chassis to produce these compounds. However, there is still a long way before prenylflavonoids can be produced by heterologous organisms with relevant yields and titers. In this review, we highlight the biosynthetic pathways involved in the production of prenylflavonoids. Additionally, we review the advances, challenges and strategies on the heterologous production of these compounds in a competitive way.