(2E,6E)-farnesol

Farnesol is an acyclic sesquiterpenoid alcohol with industrial and medical potential. In plant systems, farnesol is synthesized from farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) via farnesol synthase [262]. In microbial production platforms, farnesol biosynthesis is achieved by augmenting the intracellular pool of the C15 precursor farnesyl diphosphate (FPP) [261, 262]. Precursor supply is enhanced through the expression of a heterologous mevalonate (MVA) pathway to produce isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP), coupled with the overexpression of FPP synthase (encoded by ispA) [261, 262]. Downstream dephosphorylation of accumulated FPP to farnesol can be driven by integral membrane phosphatases possessing moonlight FPP hydrolysis activity, specifically phosphatidylglycerophosphatase B (PgpB) and undecaprenyl diphosphate phosphatase (YbjG) [262]. Mutational analysis reveals that conserved active-site residues, including H207 in PgpB and H145 in YbjG, are critical for executing this FPP cleavage [262].