Les ressources de carbone primaires doivent être progressivement remplacées par des ressources renouvelables plus complexes comme les matières lignocellulosiques, pour produire des biocarburants ou des synthons (bioraffineries de 2ième génération). Cette évolution nécessite de modifications importantes à différentes étapes du procédé, au niveau de la fermentation elle-même ou dans les étapes ultérieures nécessaire pour l'obtention du produit cible. Dans ce travail, nous avons étudié un procédé de production de succinate à partir du xylose. La fermentation a été réalisée en utilisant une souche d' Escherichia coli modifiée par ingénierie métabolique. La purification du succinate a été réalisée par nanofiltration. Des travaux précédents ont permis, par ingénierie métabolique, de mettre au point une souche E. coli KJ122 permettant de produire du succinate par fermentation anaérobie de glucose dans un milieu contenant des sels minéraux. Cette souche ne permet cependant pas une fermentation performante lorsque le xylose est utilisé comme substrat. Afin de lever cette limitation, E. coli KJ122 a été modifiée. Le transporteur ABC codant pour les gènes xylFGH a été inactivé par une technique de suppression de gènes. La souche ainsi obtenue, baptisée KJ12201 (E. coli KJ122 ?xylFGH) a permis d'atteindre des vitesses de croissances rapides, des consommations de xylose et une production de succinate améliorées par rapport à la souche parente. Après modification génétique, E. coli KJ12201-14T permet de produire en mode une concentration élevée de succinate de 84 g/L, la concentration d'acétate accumulée étant de 11 g/L, à partir d'un milieu de composition adaptée (AM1) contenant 10% de xylose. En fermentation fed-batch, E. coli KJ12201-14T permet de produire du succinate à une concentration de 84 g/L, avec un rendement de 0.85 g/g et une productivité de 2 g/L/h. Ces résultats démontrent les potentialités de cette souche pour produire du succinate à partir de xylose ou d'hydrolysats riches en xylose issus de matières lignocellulosiques. La nanofiltration a ensuite été considérée afin de purifier le succinate obtenu par fermentation. Les expériences ont été réalisées avec une membrane NF45 et des milieux de fermentation synthétiques contenant le succinate et différentes impuretés, sels minéraux, glucose ou autres sels d'acides organiques, acétate en particulier. L'influence des conditions opératoires (pH, pression) sur les performances de la NF a été évaluée. Les mécanismes gouvernant le transfert des espèces à travers la membrane ont été étudiés afin d'expliquer la variation des rétentions en fonction de la composition du milieu. En solution simple, les résultats ont montré que la rétention du succinate augmente avec la pression appliquée et avec le pH et diminue lorsque la concentration augmente. Pour des concentrations faibles, de l'ordre de 0.1M, les rétentions du succinate et de l'acétate en mélange sont différentes et identiques à celles en solution simples. Une bonne purification du succinate est ainsi possible. Au contraire, pour des concentrations plus élevées en succinate, la rétention diminue par suite de l'écrantage des effets de charge. Les rétentions étant trop proches, la séparation acétate/succinate devient impossible. Considérant les mécanismes ainsi mis évidence, une méthodologie a été proposée afin de réaliser la purification du succinate obtenu par fermentation. La séparation acétate/succinate est effectuée en deux étapes. Une diafiltration du jus de fermentation, préalablement dilué, est d'abord réalisée en utilisant la membrane NF45. Le rétentat purifié est ensuite concentré, en utilisant une membrane d'osmose inverse. Grace à ce procédé, il est possible d'augmenter la pureté du succinate de 85 à plus de 99.5% avec un rendement global supérieur à 92%. L'intérêt de la nanofiltration pour purifier le succinate produit par fermentation est ainsi démontrée. / Current trend is to move from primary carbohydrate resources to more complex ones like lignocellulosic materials as a bio-renewable feedstock, to produce biofuels or chemical building blocks. This evolution requires significant modifications at different stages in the bioprocess engineering, including fermentation and downstream processes. In this work, the succinate production by a newly metabolically engineered Escherichia coli from xylose, and its purification from fermentative broth by nanofiltration were studied. Escherichia coli KJ122 strain was previously engineered to produce high titers and yields of succinate in mineral salts medium containing glucose under simple-batch anaerobic conditions. However, this strain does not efficiently utilize xylose due to catabolic repression. To improve the xylose uptake and its utilization of E. coli KJ122, xylFGH genes were inactivated by the gene deletion technique. The mutant strain named KJ12201 (E. coli KJ122 ?xylFGH) exhibited high abilities in fast growth, xylose consumption and succinate production compared to those of the parental strains. After performing metabolic evolution, E. coli KJ12201-14T efficiently consumed 10% xylose to produce a high succinate concentration at 84 g/L with an accumulated acetate concentration at 11 g/L in mineral salts medium (AM1) under batch fermentation. During fed-batch fermentation, E. coli KJ12201-14T produced succinate at a concentration, yield, and overall productivity of 84 g/L, 0.85 g/g, and 1.0 g/L/h, respectively. These results demonstrated that E. coli KJ12201 would be a potential strain for the economic bio-based succinate production from xylose and other xylose-rich hydrolysates derived from lignocellulosic materials. The succinate purification from fermentation broth by nanofiltration (NF) was also investigated. The experiment was carried out with a NF45 membrane and various synthetic fermentation broths containing succinate salt and different impurities such as inorganic salts, glucose, and other organic acid salts including acetate. The influence of the operating conditions (pH, pressure) as well as the broth composition on the NF performances was evaluated. The mechanisms governing the transfer of the solutes through the membrane were studied in order to explain the different solute retentions observed according to the fermentation broth composition. In single-solute solutions, the succinate retention increases with increasing pressure and feed pH and decreases with increasing feed concentration. For instance, at a low salts concentration at 0.1 M, it was observed that the retentions of succinate and acetate in the mixture are identical to those in single solutions. Thus, a good purification of succinate can be obtained. On the contrary, with higher succinate concentrations, the retention was decreased due to the screening effect. Retentions of those solutes were then too close to achieve a separation. Based on abovementioned mechanisms observed, a methodology was proposed to perform the succinate purification from fermentation broth. The succinate/acetate separation was carried out in two steps. A diafiltration of the diluted fermentation broth was initially performed, and the concentration step followed. With this process, it was possible to increase the succinate purity from 85% to more than 99.5% while maintaining a total yield higher than 92%. From this work, it was shown that NF could be effectively used for the succinate purification from fermentation broth.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:01:50Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AnaKCL_TESE.pdf: 1692215 bytes, checksum: a7d6bf1b824b71e2d8f2ccfcbbe55015 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-04-09 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / Metabolic flux analysis (MFA) is a powerful tool for analyzing cellular metabolism. In order to control the growth conditions of a specific organism, it is important to have a complete understanding of its MFA. This would allowed us to improve the processes for obtaining products of interest to human and also to understand how to manipulate the genome of a cell, allowing optimization process for genetic engineering. Streptomyces olindensis ICB20 is a promising producer of the antibiotic cosmomycin, a powerful antitumor drug. Several Brazilian researchers groups have been developing studies in order to optimize cosmomycin production in bioreactors. However, to the best of our knowledge, nothing has been done on metabolic fluxes analysis field. Therefore, the aim of this work is to identify several factors that can affect the metabolism of Streptomyces olindensis ICB20, through the metabolic flux analysis. As a result, the production of the secondary metabolite, cosmomycin, can be increased. To achieve this goal, a metabolic model was developed which simulates a distribution of internal cellular fluxes based on the knowledge of metabolic pathways, its interconnections, as well as the constraints of microorganism under study. The validity of the proposed model was verified by comparing the computational data obtained by the model with the experimental data obtained from the literature. Based on the analysis of intracellular fluxes, obtained by the model, an optimal culture medium was proposed. In addition, some key points of the metabolism of Streptomyces olindensis were identified, aiming to direct its metabolism to a greater cosmomycin production. In this sense it was found that by increasing the concentration of yeast extract, the culture medium could be optimized. Furthermore, the inhibition of the biosynthesis of fatty acids was found to be a interesting strategy for genetic manipulation. Based on the metabolic model, one of the optimized medium conditions was experimentally tested in order to demonstrate in vitro what was obtained in silico. It was found that by increasing the concentration of yeast extract in the culture medium would induce to an increase of the cosmomycin production / A an?lise de fluxos metab?licos (AFM) ? uma importante ferramenta de an?lise do metabolismo celular. O seu conhecimento ? de extrema import?ncia para entender como deve ser conduzido ?s condi??es de cultivo de um organismo, no sentido de melhorar os processos de obten??o de produtos de interesse do homem, bem como para entender como deve ser manipulado o genoma de uma c?lula possibilitando a otimiza??o do processo para engenharia gen?tica. Streptomyces olindensis ICB20 ? um promissor produtor do antibi?tico cosmomicina, uma potente droga antitumoral, sendo de extrema relev?ncia estudar os fluxos metab?licos deste micro-organismo com o prop?sito de otimizar a s?ntese deste produto do metabolismo secund?rio. V?rios grupos de pesquisa brasileiros v?m desenvolvendo estudos na tentativa de otimizar esta produ??o em biorreatores. Entretanto, nada foi realizado ainda relativo ? an?lise de fluxos metab?licos. Este trabalho teve como objetivo verificar os fatores que afetam o metabolismo de Streptomyces olindensis ICB20, atrav?s da an?lise de fluxos metab?licos de forma que possa ser aumentada a produ??o do metab?lito secund?rio, cosmomicina. Para alcan?ar esse objetivo foi desenvolvido um modelo metab?lico que simula uma distribui??o dos fluxos internos celulares com base no conhecimento das vias metab?licas, de suas interliga??es, como tamb?m das restri??es do micro-organismo em estudo. A validade do modelo proposto foi verificada atrav?s da compara??o dos dados obtidos pelo modelo com dados experimentais da literatura. A partir da an?lise dos fluxos intracelulares, obtidos pelo modelo, foi proposto um meio de cultivo ?timo, como tamb?m, identificado pontos chaves do metabolismo com o direcionando o metabolismo de Streptomyces olindensis para uma maior produ??o de cosmomicina. Nesse sentido foi verificado que o incremento na concentra??o de extrato de levedura ? uma proposta de otimiza??o do meio de cultivo e que a inibi??o da via biossint?tica de ?cidos graxos ? uma estrat?gia interessante para manipula??o gen?tica. Com o objetivo de comprovar in vitro o que foi obtido in silico foi testada uma das condi??es de otimiza??o de meio proposta pelo modelo metab?lico atrav?s de ensaios experimentais em incubador rotativo onde foi constatado que o incremento na concentra??o de extrato de levedura no meio de cultivo induziu a um aumento na produ??o de cosmomicina

Afin d’optimiser la production d’un composé d’intérêt tout en évitant les conséquences néfastes sur la viabilité cellulaire, un défi majeur de l’ingénierie métabolique est d’obtenir un équilibre entre les flux métaboliques endogènes de la cellule et le flux consommé par une nouvelle voie de biosynthèse. Dans ce contexte d’optimisation, les stratégies combinatoires génèrent une diversité de voies métaboliques et de modes de régulation rassemblant de précieuses informations quant aux choix d’orientations stratégiques à faire. Notre étude s’inscrit dans un projet visant à produire les molécules responsables de l’arôme, de la couleur et du parfum du safran (Crocus sativus) chez Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Une approche combinatoire a été adoptée pour moduler les niveaux d’expression de trois gènes menant à la synthèse de leur précurseur commun : la zéaxanthine. Cette stratégie nous a permis de décrire des biais inattendus dans la régulation des niveaux d’expression des gènes exprimés sur plasmide. Nous avons détecté une forte interférence transcriptionnelle entre les gènes dans notre système, ainsi qu’une influence de la nature des séquences codantes. Ces éléments, identifiés comme critiques, imposent sur les niveaux d’expression des trois gènes une régulation plus importante que la force des promoteurs qui les contrôlent. Afin de poursuivre le projet vers son objectif final, la réaction de clivage de la zéaxanthine menant à la synthèse des composés d’intérêt du safran a fait l’objet d’une analyse fonctionnelle détaillée. Une absence d’activité de l’enzyme décrite dans la littérature comme responsable de cette réaction nous a conduits à proposer des perspectives d’ingénierie pour atteindre l’objectif final du projet / To optimize the production of a value added compound while avoiding toxic consequences on the cell viability, a challenge in the metabolic engineering field is to balance the endogenous metabolic fluxes and the newly consumed fluxes. In this optimization context, combinatorial strategies can generate several variants of synthetic metabolic pathways. This strategy gives precious strategic information on the right combinations of function and regulation choices to be made in the ultimate pathway reconstruction. Our study aimed at the production of the molecules responsible for aroma, dye, and fragrance of saffron (Crocus sativus) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. A combinatorial approach was chosen to modulate expression levels of three genes involved in their common precursor biosynthesis: zeaxanthin. This strategy allowed us to describe some unexpected bias in the regulation of the plasmid-encoded genes expression levels. We detected strong transcriptional interference between the different genes in our system, and the ORF nature also seemed to influence the expression levels. These critical factors imposed a stronger regulation of the three genes expression levels than the promoter strength initially chosen to control them. The project was continued toward its final objective by making a detailed functional analysis of the zeaxanthin cleavage reaction leading to the molecules of interest synthesis. This reaction was described to be catalyzed by a specific enzyme, but no activity was observed in our experiments. This result led us to propose some tools to reach the final goal of the project

A indústria biotecnológica vem ganhando destaque em função das negativas atreladas ao uso de recursos fósseis. Nesse cenário, o Brasil se destaca por seu programa de produção de bioetanol bem estabelecido e pelo uso de cana-de-açúcar como matéria prima barata. O presente trabalho construiu Saccharomyces cerevisiae transgênicas para aprodução de compostos de interesse econômico cuja biossíntese consome energia livre (ATP). Para tanto, a expressão de proteínas heterólogas e engenharia evolutiva foram realizadas em levedura de modo que a produção de determinados compostos se torne energicamente viável. / The biotechs industry is a growing field since fossil resources are being attached to ecological and geopolitical constraints. In this scenario, Brazil has a major role due to its large experience in the bioethanol industry and sugarcane use as a cheap feedstock. The aim of this work is to optimize Saccharomyces cerevisiae allowing them to occupy a new niche: the production of economically valuable chemicals that require cellular free energy (ATP) on their biosynthesis. In this context, heterologous protein expression and evolutionary engineering were done. Therefore, this work will potentially contribute to make certain energy demanding chemicals production economically viable.

The current investigation is aimed at the reconstruction and analysis of genome-scale metabolic models. Specifically, it is focused on the use of mathematical-computational simulations to predict the cellular metabolism behavior towards bio-products production. The photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 was studied as biological system. This prokaryotic has been used in several studies as a biological platform for the synthesis of several substances for industrial interest. These studies are based on the advantage of autotrophic systems, which basically requires light and CO2 for growth. The main objective of this thesis is the integration of different types of biological information, whose interaction can be extract applicable knowledge for economic interests. To this end, our study was addressed to the use of methods for modeling, analyzing and predicting the behavior of metabolic phenotypes of cyanobacterium. The work has been divided into chapters organized sequentially, where the starting point was the in silico metabolic reconstruction network. This process intent to join in a metabolic model of all chemical reactions codified in genome. The stoichiometric coefficients of each reactions, can be arranged into a sparse matrix (stoichiometric matrix), where the columns corresponds to reactions and rows to metabolites. As a result of this process the first model was obtained (iSyf646) than later was updated to another (iSyf714). Both were generated from data ¿omics published in databases, scientific reviews as well as textbooks. To validate them, each one of the stoichiometric matrix together with relevant constraints were used by simulation techniques based on linear programming. These reconstructions have to be flexible enough to allow autotrophic growth under which the organism grows in nature. Once the reconstructions were validated, environmental variations can be simulated and we were able to study its effects through changes in outline system parameters. Subsequently, synthetic capabilities were evaluated from the in silico models in order to design metabolic engineering strategies. To do this a genetic variation was simulated in reactions network, where the disturbed stoichiometric matrix was the object of the quadratic optimization methods. As a results sets of optimal solutions were generated to enhanced production of various metabolites of energetic interest such as: ethanol, n-butanol isomers, lipids and hydrogen, as well as lactic acid as the compound which is an interest to the industry. Furthermore, functionally coupled reactions have been studied and have been weighted to the importance in the production of metabolites. Finally, genome-scale metabolic models allow us to establish criteria to integrate different types of data to help of find important points of regulation that may be subject to genetic modification. These regulatory centers have been investigated under drastic changes of illumination and have been inferred operational principles of cyanobacterium metabolism. In general, this thesis presents the metabolic capabilities of photosynthetic cyanobacterium Synechococcus elongatus PCC7942 to produce substances of interest, being a potential biological platform for clean and sustainable production. / Triana Dopico, J. (2014). Model-based analysis and metabolic design of a cyanobacterium for bio-products synthesis [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/39351 / TESIS

Le métabolisme définit l’ensemble des réactions biochimiques au sein d’un organisme, lui permettant de survivre et de s’adapter dans différents environnements. La régulation de ces réactions requiert un processus complexe impliquant de nombreux effecteurs interagissant ensemble à différentes échelles.Développer des modèles de ces réseaux de régulation est ainsi une étape indispensable pour mieux comprendre les mécanismes précis régissant les systèmes vivants et permettre, à terme, la conception de systèmes synthétiques, autorégulés et adaptatifs, à l'échelle du génome. Dans le cadre de ces travaux interdisciplinaires, nous proposons d’utiliser une approche itérative d’inférence de réseau et d’interrogation afin de guider l’ingénierie du métabolisme de la levure d’intérêt industriel Yarrowia lipolytica.À partir de données transcriptomiques, le premier réseau de régulation de l’adaptation à la limitation en azote et de la production de lipides a été inféré pour cette levure. L’interrogation de ce réseau a ensuite permis de mettre en avant et valider expérimentalement l’impact de régulateurs sur l'accumulation lipidique.Afin d’explorer davantage les liens entre régulation et métabolisme, une nouvelle méthode, CoRegFlux, a été proposée pour la prédiction de phénotype métabolique à partir des profils d’activités des régulateurs dans les conditions étudiées.Ce package R, disponible sur la plateforme Bioconductor, a ensuite été utilisé pour mieux comprendre l’adaptation à la limitation en azote et identifier des phénotypes d’intérêts en vue de l’ingénierie de cette levure, notamment pour la production de lipides et de violacéine.Ainsi, par une approche itérative, ces travaux apportent de nouvelles connaissances sur les interactions entre la régulation et le métabolisme chez Y. lipolytica, l’identification de motifs de régulation chez cette levure et contribue au développement de méthodes intégratives pour la conception de souches assistée par ordinateur. / Metabolism defines the set of biochemical reactions within an organism, allowing it to survive and adapt to different environments. Regulating these reactions requires complex processes involving many effectors interacting together at different scales.Developing models of these regulatory networks is therefore an essential step in better understanding the precise mechanisms governing living systems and ultimately enabling the design of synthetic, self-regulating and adaptive systems at the genome level. As part of this interdisciplinary work, we propose to use an iterative network inference and interrogation approach to guide the engineering of the metabolism of the yeast of industrial interest Yarrowia lipolytica.Based on transcriptomic data, the first network for the regulation of adaptation to nitrogen limitation and lipid production in this yeast was inferred.The interrogation of this network has then allowed to to highlight and experimentally validate the impact of several regulators on lipid accumulation. In order to further explore the relationships between regulation and metabolism, a new method, CoRegFlux, has been proposed for the prediction of metabolic phenotype based on the influence profiles of regulators in the studied conditions. This R package, available on the Bioconductor platform, was then used to better understand adaptation to nitrogen limitation and to identify phenotypes of interest for strain engineering, particularly for the production of lipids and amino acid derivatives such as violacein.Thus, through an iterative approach, this work provides new insights into the interactions between regulation and metabolism in Y. lipolytica, conserved regulatory module in this yeast and contributes to the development of innovative integrative methods for computer-assisted strain design.

<div>To compensate for their sessile existence, plants synthesize and emit a wide diversity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that serve important biological functions pertaining to defense, reproduction, and plant-plant signaling. In addition to their importance in plant secondary metabolism, VOCs are used as fragrances, flavoring agents, and therapeutics. Plant metabolic engineering has successfully been implemented towards the design of value-added plants with enhanced defense, improved aroma and flavor, and increased production of specialty chemicals. However, rational design requires rigorous characterization of the mechanisms controlling metabolic fluxes in a network. Thus, the major aims of this dissertation are to study biological and physical mechanisms controlling the synthesis and emission of plant VOCs. This dissertation focuses on (i) modeling 2-phenylethanol biosynthesis in Arabidopsis and (ii) characterization of the biophysical properties of flower cuticles with respect to the emission of VOCs.</div><div><br></div><div>2-Phenylethanol (2-PE) is a naturally-occurring aromatic volatile with properties that make it a candidate oxygenate for petroleum-derived gasoline. In plants, 2-PE biosynthesis competes with the phenylpropanoid pathway for the common precursor L-phenylalanine (Phe). The phenylpropanoid pathway directs up to 30% of fixed carbon towards the production of lignin, a major constituent of plant cell walls that renders biomass recalcitrant to pretreatment techniques impeding the economical production of biofuels. An initial genetic engineering approach was proposed, whereby a portion of the carbon flux towards lignin production is diverted towards the biosynthesis 2-PE. Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana expressing enzymes catalyzing the biosynthetic steps from Phe to 2-PE were generated. Excised stems from transgenic Arabidopsis were supplied 13C6-ring labeled Phe, and isotopic enrichment of downstream metabolites were quantified to calculate fluxes. By combining flux measurements with predictions from a kinetic model of the Phe metabolic network, we hypothesized that 2-PE biosynthesis in transgenic Arabidopsis was limited by endogenous pools of cytosolic Phe. Multiple independent genetic strategies were proposed based on model-guided predictions, such as inducing Phe hyper-accumulation, reduction of the activity of the competing phenylpropanoid pathway, and sequestering the 2-PE biosynthesis pathway in plastids. Combining kinetic modeling with time-course in vivo metabolomics led to successful rational engineering of 2-PE accumulating plants.</div><div><br></div><div>The plant cuticle is the physical interface between the flower and its surrounding environment. Passage of VOCs through the cuticle is driven solely by diffusion and is thus dependent on the cuticle physicochemical properties. Wax compounds in the cuticular matrix self-assemble into a multiphase system of crystalline and amorphous regions, where their relative amounts and arrangements govern VOC diffusion. To investigate the effect of wax composition on the crystallinity and permeability of the cuticle, we characterized the cuticular waxes of Petunia hybrida petals using GC-MS, FTIR, DSC, and XRD. Petal waxes were found to be enriched with long-chain hydrocarbons forming semi-crystalline waxes localized on petal surfaces. A ternary system of wax compounds was proposed as a model for petal cuticles to investigate the effect of wax composition on cuticle crystallinity and permeability. Atomistic simulations of VOC displacement in waxes of varying chemical composition were performed at 298 K and 1 bar under NPT conditions to estimate diffusivities. Wax anisotropy was found to be highly dependent on the elongation of methylene chains, restricting the molecular diffusion path. Changes in crystalline symmetry were found to have measurable effects on VOC diffusion. Simulations of compositional variants of the model cuticle shows that changes in relative crystallinity exert differential control on the dynamics of VOC emissions.</div><div><br></div><div>To directly determine the effect of the cuticle on VOC emissions in petunia flowers, the wax exporter PhABCG12 was silenced using RNA interference, resulting in flowers with thinner cuticles. However, VOC emissions were found to have significantly decreased in transgenic flowers relative to the wild-type control. Dewaxing wild-type and transgenic petunia revealed that the cuticle serves as a site of VOC build-up during emission, and deficient coverage limits the extent to which compounds can accumulate. In addition, the cuticle was found to impart differing levels of mass transfer resistance for certain VOCs, suggesting that the cuticle controls the dynamics of VOC emissions. Taken together, petal cuticles provide an additional layer of regulation in emission of VOCs from plants.</div><div><br></div>

Le sclaréol est un diterpène produit par les organes floraux de la sauge sclarée (Salvia sclarea, Lamiaceae). Il est utilisé en parfumerie pour l’hémisynthèse de l’ambroxide, une substance caractérisée par une odeur ambrée et une grande capacité de fixation des parfums. L’augmentation de la demande mondiale en sclaréol stimule actuellement les tentatives d’accroître le rendement de la production de sclaréol à partir de la sauge sclarée. L’objectif du travail présenté dans ce manuscrit était d’améliorer notre compréhension de la biosynthèse du sclaréol et de sa régulation chez la sauge sclarée, afin de mettre en évidence des stratégies d’augmentation du contenu en sclaréol de la sauge sclarée. L'analyse de la surface des calices de sauge sclarée par imagerie par spectrométrie de masse suggère que le sclaréol est principalement sécrété par des structures épidermiques spécialisées appelées trichomes glandulaires. De plus, nous avons mis en évidence les contributions respectives des deux voies de biosynthèse des terpènes présentes chez les plantes, les voies MVA et MEP, à la biosynthèse de trois terpènes de la sauge sclarée. Des expériences de marquage au ¹³C indiquent que le sclaréol et l’acétate de linalyle sont tous deux issus de la voie MEP, alors que le β-caryophyllène semble être d’origine mixte. Nous avons également étudié le rôle potentiel d’une phytohormone, le méthyljasmonate, dans la régulation de la production de sclaréol chez la sauge sclarée. Enfin, nous avons exploré la diversité génétique et phénotypique de populations croates de sauge sclarée sauvage, et montrons que ces populations représentent une ressource génétique distincte par rapport aux populations de référence. L’ensemble de ces résultats met en évidence des pistes prometteuses pour l'amélioration génétique ciblée des performances de la sauge sclarée. / Sclareol is a diterpene produced by floral organs of clary sage (Salvia sclarea, Lamiaceae). It is used in perfume industry for the hemisynthesis of ambroxide, a high-valued perfume component characterized by an amber scent and a high perfume fixation capacity. The global demand for sclareol currently rises, prompting attempts at increasing the yield of sclareol production from clary sage. The purpose of the work presented in this manuscript was to improve knowledge on sclareol biosynthesis and its regulation in clary sage, in order to highlight strategies aiming at enhancing clary sage sclareol content. The analysis of the surface of clary sage calyces by mass spectrometry imaging suggests that sclareol is mainly secreted by specialized epidermal structures called glandular trichomes. Moreover, we have highlighted the respective contributions of the two terpenoid biosynthesis pathways present in plants, MVA and MEP pathways, to the biosynthesis of three terpenoids of clary sage. ¹³C-labeling experiments indicate that sclareol and linalyl acetate both originate from the MEP pathway, whereas β-caryophyllene seems to be of mixed origin. We have also investigated the potential role of a phytohormone, methyljasmonate, in the regulation of sclareol production in clary sage. Finally, we have explored the genetic and phenotypic diversity of Croatian wild clary sage populations and show that these populations represent a distinct genetic resource compared to reference populations. Taken together, these results highlight promising avenues for targeted genetic enhancement of clary sage performances.

Most of microorganisms are ubiquitously able to live in both planktonic and biofilm states, which can be applied to dissolve the energy and environmental issues (e.g., producing biofuels and purifying waste water), but can also lead to serious public health problems. To better harness microorganisms, plenty of studies have been implemented to investigate the metabolism of planktonic and/or biofilm cells via multi-omics approaches (e.g., transcriptomics and proteomics analysis). However, these approaches are limited to provide the direct description of intracellular metabolism (e.g., metabolic fluxes) of microorganisms. Therefore, in this study, I have applied computational modeling approaches (i.e., 13C assisted pathway and flux analysis, flux balance analysis, and machine learning) to both planktonic and biofilm cells for better understanding intracellular metabolisms and providing valuable biological insights. First, I have summarized recent advances in synergizing 13C assisted pathway and flux analysis and metabolic engineering. Second, I have applied 13C assisted pathway and flux analysis to investigate the intracellular metabolisms of planktonic and biofilm cells. Various biological insights have been elucidated, including the metabolic responses under mixed stresses in the planktonic states, the metabolic rewiring in homogenous and heterologous chemical biosynthesis, key pathways of biofilm cells for electricity generation, and mechanisms behind the electricity generation. Third, I have developed a novel platform (i.e., omFBA) to integrate multi-omics data with flux balance analysis for accurate prediction of biological insights (e.g., key flux ratios) of both planktonic and biofilm cells. Fourth, I have designed a computational tool (i.e., CRISTINES) for the advanced genome editing tool (i.e., CRISPR-dCas9 system) to facilitate the sequence designs of guide RNA for programmable control of metabolic fluxes. Lastly, I have also accomplished several outreaches in metabolic engineering. In summary, during my Ph.D. training, I have systematically applied computational modeling approaches to investigate the microbial metabolisms in both planktonic and biofilm states. The biological findings and computational tools can be utilized to guide the scientists and engineers to derive more productive microorganisms via metabolic engineering and synthetic biology. In the future, I will apply 13C assisted pathway analysis to investigate the metabolism of pathogenic biofilm cells for reducing their antibiotic resistance. / Ph. D.

The supply of precursors from primary metabolism is often overlooked when engineering secondary metabolism for increased product yields. This is because precursor supply may be assumed to be non-limiting, and it is considered difficult to engineer primary metabolism, because control of carbon flow (flux) is generally distributed among most enzymes of the pathway. The aim of this thesis was to increase the production of sterols, part of the isoprenoid class of secondary metabolites, in tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) Bright Yellow 2 (BY-2) cell cultures. This was achieved by genetically engineering increased activity of mitochondrial citrate synthase, an enzyme of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle that is involved in the provision of cytosolic acetyl coenzyme A, the primary metabolite precursor to sterols. Metabolic flux analysis revealed that citrate synthase exerts significant control over cyclic TCA cycle flux in BY-2 cells and suggested that increasing the activity of downstream enzymes within secondary metabolism could lead to a further redirection of TCA-cycle-derived precursors into sterol biosynthesis. Attempts were made to achieve this by genetically engineering increased activity of 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase (HMGR), a key enzyme of secondary metabolism involved in sterol biosynthesis. Consistent with previous research, transgenic lines had increased sterol levels. However, the high sterol phenotype was unstable, and attempts to co-express HMGR and citrate synthase genes were unsuccessful. The thesis demonstrates that increasing the provision of precursors to secondary metabolites can result in increased yields of those secondary metabolites but suggests that in most cases the activity of enzymes within secondary metabolism has a greater effect on those yields. It also reveals that single enzymes can exert significant control of flux within primary metabolism, although the control exerted by specific enzymes probably changes with the demands placed on metabolism.