Enhancement of Nucleoside Production in Hirsutella sinensis Based on Biosynthetic Pathway Analysis

To enhance nucleoside production in Hirsutella sinensis, the biosynthetic pathways of purine and pyrimidine nucleosides were constructed and verified. The differential expression analysis showed that purine nucleoside phosphorylase, inosine monophosphate dehydrogenase, and guanosine monophosphate synthase genes involved in purine nucleotide biosynthesis were significantly upregulated 16.56-fold, 8-fold, and 5.43-fold, respectively. Moreover, dihydroorotate dehydrogenase, uridine nucleosidase, uridine/cytidine monophosphate kinase, and inosine triphosphate pyrophosphatase genes participating in pyrimidine nucleoside biosynthesis were upregulated 4.53-fold, 10.63-fold, 4.26-fold, and 5.98-fold, respectively. To enhance the nucleoside production, precursors for synthesis of nucleosides were added based on the analysis of biosynthetic pathways. Uridine and cytidine contents, respectively, reached 5.04 mg/g and 3.54 mg/g when adding 2 mg/mL of ribose, resulting in an increase of 28.6% and 296% compared with the control, respectively. Meanwhile, uridine and cytidine contents, respectively, reached 10.83 mg/g 2.12 mg/g when adding 0.3 mg/mL of uracil, leading to an increase of 176.3% and 137.1%, respectively. This report indicated that fermentation regulation was an effective way to enhance the nucleoside production in H. sinensis based on biosynthetic pathway analysis.