Polyketides are a diverse group of natural products with great significance as human therapeutics. Although they are made in a variety of microorganisms, polyketides often are produced in their natural hosts in minute quantities. To optimize production of these compounds and for the generation of novel polyketides, heterologous hosts hold several advantages. The specific attributes of yeast combined with success at the high-level production of a fungal polyketide in Saccharomyces cerevisiae point to the exceptional promise of this host for polyketide biosynthesis. The Principal Investigator (PI) will develop and evaluate various strategies for introducing and expressing active polyketide synthases in S. cerevisiae.
