Engineering caveolin-mediated endocytosis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

As a potential substitute for fatty acids, common low-cost oils could be used to produce acetyl-CoA derivatives, which meet the needs of low-cost industrial production. However, oils are hydrophobic macromolecules and cannot be directly transported into cells. In this study, caveolin was expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to absorb exogenous oils. The expression of caveolin fused with green fluorescent protein showed that caveolin mediated the formation of microvesicles in S. cerevisiae and the addition of 5,6-carboxyfluorescein showed that caveolae had the ability to transport exogenous substances into cells. The intracellular and extracellular triacylglycerol levels were then detected after the addition of soybean oil pre-stained with Nile Red, which proved that caveolae had the ability to absorb the exogenous oils. Lastly, caveolin for oils absorption and lipase from Bacillus pumilus for oil hydrolysis were co-expressed in the naringenin-producing Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain, resulting in naringenin production increasing from 222 mg/g DCW (dry cell weight) (231 mg/L) to 269 mg/g DCW (241 mg/L). These results suggested that the caveolin-mediated transporter independent oil transport system would provide a promising strategy for the transport of hydrophobic substrates.