Gram-Level Production of Balanol through Regulatory Pathway and Medium Optimization in Herb Fungus Tolypocladium ophioglossoides

Abstract

As a potential protein kinase C inhibitor, the fungus metabolite balanol has become more attractive in recent decades. In our previous work, we revealed its biosynthetic pathway through overexpression of the cluster-situated regulator gene blnR in Chinese herb fungus Tolypocladium ophioglossoides. However, information on the regulation of blnR is still largely unknown. In this study, we further investigated the regulation of balanol biosynthesis by BlnR through the analysis of affinity binding using EMSA and RNA-seq analysis. The results showed that BlnR positively regulates balanol biosynthesis through binding to all promoters of bln gene members, including its own promoter. Microscopic observation revealed blnR overexpression also affected spore development and hypha growth. Furthermore, RNA-seq analysis suggested that BlnR can regulate other genes outside of the balanol biosynthetic gene cluster, including those involved in conidiospore development. Finally, balanol production was further improved to 2187.39 mg/L using the optimized medium through statistical optimization based on response surface methodology.