De Novo Biosynthesis of Trigonelline in Engineered Escherichia coli.
Xue Y, Liu M, Tang J, Liu T
Medicinal Plants
Fenugreek seeds have been brewed into medicinal teas and curries for millennia, and now the key compound behind those benefits may soon be made in a lab vat rather than a field — which could either relieve pressure on fenugreek cultivation or sideline the plant farmers who grow it.
Fenugreek seeds contain a natural compound called trigonelline that has anti-inflammatory and brain-protective properties. Normally you'd have to grow fenugreek plants and extract it, which is slow and costly. Researchers rewired bacteria to build trigonelline from scratch inside a fermentation tank, eventually producing meaningful amounts — a bit like teaching a microbe to do what a plant does naturally.
Key Findings
Initial bacterial production of trigonelline reached 13.59 mg/L, which was improved to 29.95 mg/L through pathway engineering in shake-flask cultures.
Fed-batch fermentation in a 5-liter bioreactor boosted final yield to 128.38 mg/L — roughly a 9× improvement over the starting point.
Key engineering moves included blocking a competing pathway (deleting pncB), fusing enzymes into complexes for efficiency, and importing genes from yeast to increase supply of the precursor molecule nicotinate.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists engineered bacteria to produce trigonelline, a beneficial compound naturally found in fenugreek seeds, achieving yields over 128 mg/L — a first step toward making this plant-derived molecule without needing to grow or harvest plants at all.
Abstract Preview
Trigonelline, a naturally occurring pyridine alkaloid found in fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) seeds and other legumes, exerts diverse pharmacological effects, including anti-inflammatory and...
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Fenugreek is an annual plant in the family Fabaceae, with leaves consisting of three small obovate to oblong leaflets. It is cultivated worldwide as a semiarid crop. Its leaves and seeds are common ingredients in dishes from the Indian subcontinent, and have been used as a culinary ingredient sin...