Characterizing Stilbene Synthases to Engineer a Microbial Production Platform for Resveratrol

Polyphenols are increasingly under investigation since many molecules in this class are biologically active, in fact stilbenes and flavonoids have been shown to possess various health-improving activities towards preventing heart disease and cancer and potentially increasing human life spans. The development of highly efficient industrial production platforms for these natural product therapeutics hinges on the selection of proficient protein sources and construction of optimal expressions platforms. Here we report the investigation of various stilbene synthases from an array of plant species in an attempt to derive structure-activity relationships. Additionally, we investigated these various stilbene synthases under different promoter constructs to create recombinant Escherichia coli strains capable of superior resveratrol titers that are sufficient for commercial scale-up.