Abstract
The field of genetic engineering was born in 1973 with the “construction of biologically functional bacterial plasmids in vitro”. Since then, a vast number of technologies have been developed allowing large-scale reading and writing of DNA, as well as tools for complex modifications and alterations of the genetic code. Natural genomes can be seen as software version 1.0; synthetic genomics aims to rewrite this software with “build to understand” and “build to apply” philosophies. One of the predominant model organisms is the baker’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Its importance ranges from ancient biotechnologies such as baking and brewing, to high-end valuable compound synthesis on industrial scales. This tiny sugar fungus contributed greatly to enabling humankind to reach its current development status. This review discusses recent developments in the field of genetic engineering for budding yeast S. cerevisiae, and its application in biotechnology. The article highlights advances from Sc1.0 to the developments in synthetic genomics paving the way towards Sc2.0. With the synthetic genome of Sc2.0 nearing completion, the article also aims to propose perspectives for potential Sc3.0 and subsequent versions as well as its implications for basic and applied research.
Highlights
“Transformation” of an organism was reported for the first time almost 100 years ago: in 1928, Frederick Griffith reported he had changed the type of one Streptococcus pneumoniae to another [1]
For the purposes of this review, the term genetic engineering refers to any application of changing the genetic code of an organism with molecular biology tools, and biotechnology is a branch of its industrial application
Key factors in the rise of S. cerevisiae as a model organism, besides being easy to handle and its generally recognized as safe (GRAS) status, were the first transformation of yeast, the discovery of the highly efficient homologous recombination machinery and its being the first eukaryote with a fully sequenced genome [5,6]
Summary
“Transformation” of an organism was reported for the first time almost 100 years ago: in 1928, Frederick Griffith reported he had changed the type of one Streptococcus pneumoniae to another [1]. Extensive work in genetic engineering has allowed researchers to make small or large changes to the genetic code to understand life and generate valuable production strains, such as a yeast strain producing a human hepatitis B vaccine [23]. Yeast has become an organism which is used to produce valuable products, it is increasingly hijacked to build DNA fragments based on its highly efficient homologous recombination machinery. Mycoplasma, which was the first organism ever reported to have a genome transplanted, might be an ideal host because of the lack of a cell wall This indicates the need for alternative chassis, ideally with already established tools which could, for example, allow for the transfer of engineered or synthetic chromosomes via interspecies and interkingdom conjugation such as Sinorhizobium meliloti [80,81]. Recent research is discussed which might have an influence onSc2.X to Sc3.0 and beyond
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