Reprogramming methanol utilization pathways to convert Saccharomyces cerevisiae to a synthetic methylotroph

Methanol, an organic one-carbon (C1) compound, represents an attractive alternative carbon source for microbial fermentation. Despite considerable advancements in methanol utilization by prokaryotes such as Escherichia coli, engineering eukaryotic model organisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae into synthetic methylotrophs remains challenging. Here, an engineered module circuit strategy combined with adaptive laboratory evolution was applied to engineer S. cerevisiae to use methanol as the sole carbon source. We revealed that the evolved glyoxylate-based serine pathway plays an important role in methanol-dependent growth by promoting formaldehyde assimilation. Further, we determined that the isoprenoid biosynthetic pathway was upregulated, resulting in an increased concentration of squalene and ergosterol in our evolved strain. These changes could potentially alleviate cell membrane damage in the presence of methanol. This work sets the stage for expanding the potential of exploiting S. cerevisiae as a potential organic one-carbon platform for biochemical or biofuel production.