Bioengineering of Isoquinoline Alkaloid Production in Microbial Systems

Abstract Isoquinoline alkaloids (IQAs) are plant secondary metabolites that show diverse pharmaceutical activities. However, plants contain only low levels of IQAs, and the availability of different kinds of IQAs is limited. The biosynthetic pathways of IQAs have been studied extensively, and many of the genes related to IQA biosynthesis have been identified. This information has been used to create microbial production systems that are capable of producing high yields of IQAs in a short time. In fact, several microbial systems for production of IQAs have been established in the past 5 years, making mass production of IQAs possible. Here, we describe the current state of microbial production of IQAs including its strengths and weaknesses and discuss ways in which these systems can be developed to produce higher yields and a greater diversity of IQAs.