Construction of a Zygosaccharomyces rouxii strain overexpressing the QOR gene for increased HDMF production

Abstract 4‐Hydroxy‐2,5‐dimethyl‐3(2H)‐furanone (HDMF) is a flavor compound widely found in natural products and is used in food as a flavor‐enhancing agent. Quinone oxidoreductase (QOR) was verified as a key enzyme to synthesize HDMF in strawberry, while its impact on HDMF production by Zygosaccharomyces rouxii was still unknown. The QOR gene was cloned and overexpressed in Z. rouxii , and its impact on HDMF production by Z. rouxii was then further analyzed. At the same time, it is expected to obtain engineered strains of Z. rouxii with high HDMF production. The results showed that the engineered strains of Z. rouxii exhibit different levels of QOR gene expression and HDMF production; among them, the QOR6 strain exhibiting the highest gene expression level and HDMF production was named as ZrQOR . The HDMF production of the ZrQOR strain was significantly higher than that of wild‐type Z. rouxii at 3 and 5 days of culture, with 1.41‐fold and 1.08‐fold increases, respectively. At 3 days of fermentation, the highest HDMF yield of ZrQOR strain was obtained (2.75 mg/L), 2 days ahead of the reported highest HDMF production by Z. rouxii . At 3, 5, and 7 days, QOR gene expression was 4.8‐fold, 3.3‐fold, and 5.6‐fold higher in the ZrQOR strain than in the wild‐type Z. rouxii , respectively. Therefore, overexpression of the QOR gene facilitates HDMF synthesis. The genetic stability of the 0–20 generation ZrQOR strain was stable, and there was no significant difference in colony shape, QOR expression, or HDMF production compared to the wild type. In this study, the genetic engineering Z. rouxii strain was used to improve HDMF production. This research has laid the groundwork for further industrial production of HDMF via microbial synthesis.