Farnesol production in Escherichia coli through the construction of a farnesol biosynthesis pathway – application of PgpB and YbjG phosphatases

Farnesol is a sesquiterpenoid alcohol that has important industrial and medical potential. It is usually synthesized from farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) by farnesol synthase in plants. FPP accumulation can cause up-regulation of phosphatases capable of FPP hydrolysis, resulting in farnesol production in Escherichia coli. We found that PgpB and YbjG, two integral membrane phosphatases, can hydrolyze FPP into farnesol. Overexpression of FPP synthase (IspA) and PgpB, along with a heterologous mevalonate pathway, enabled recombinant E. coli to produce 526.1 mg/L of farnesol. This result indicates that the phosphatases PgpB and YbjG can be used to construct a novel farnesol synthesis pathway for mass production in E. coli.