Engineering Escherichia coli for the synthesis of taxadiene, a key intermediate in the biosynthesis of taxol

Taxadiene, the key intermediate of paclitaxel (Taxol) biosynthesis, has been prepared enzymatically from isopentenyl diphosphate in cell-free extracts of Escherichia coli by overexpressing genes encoding isopentenyl diphosphate isomerase, geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthase and taxadiene synthase. In addition, by the expression of three genes encoding four enzymes on the terpene biosynthetic pathway in a single strain of E. coli, taxadiene can be conveniently synthesized in vivo, at the unoptimized yield of 1.3 mg per liter of cell culture. The success of both in vitro and in vivo synthesis of taxadiene bodes well for the future production of taxoids by non-paclitaxel producing organisms through pathway engineering.