High productivity of oxylipin KODA using E. coli transformed with lipoxygenase and allene oxide synthase genes of Lemna paucicostata

Abstract

KODA, a type of oxylipin, has stimulatory effects on plant growth under limiting conditions of stress, such as promoting flowering, rooting, and resistance to pathogens, for use in agriculture. KODA is released from Lemna paucicostata under drought, heat, and osmotic pressure, and is produced from α-linolenic acid by a two-step enzymatic reaction with 9-lipoxygenase and allene oxide synthase. In this paper, we report the outstanding KODA productivity of L. paucicostata, SH strain screened from 56 Lemna species. We constructed co-expression vectors for 9-lipoxygenase gene (LpLOX) and allene oxide synthase gene (LpAOS) isolated from the SH strain to be transformed into E. coli. The productivity (per fresh weight) using E. coli is 25.3 mg KODA g⁻¹ as compared to 0.366 mg g⁻¹ from L. paucicostata, SH strain, which requires a longer culture time, light irradiation and larger space for culture.