Production of moth sex pheromones for pest control by yeast fermentation.

The use of insect sex pheromones is an alternative technology for pest control in agriculture and forestry, which, in contrast to insecticides, does not have adverse effects on human health or environment and is efficient also against insecticide-resistant insect populations. Due to the high cost of chemically synthesized pheromones, mating disruption applications are currently primarily targeting higher value crops, such as fruits. Here we demonstrate a biotechnological method for the production of (Z)-hexadec-11-en-1-ol and (Z)-tetradec-9-en-1-ol, using engineered yeast cell factories. These unsaturated fatty alcohols are pheromone components or the immediate precursors of pheromone components of several economically important moth pests. Biosynthetic pathways towards several pheromones or their precursors were reconstructed in the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, which was further metabolically engineered for improved pheromone biosynthesis by decreasing fatty alcohol degradation and downregulating storage lipid accumulation. The sex pheromone of the cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera was produced by oxidation of fermented fatty alcohols into corresponding aldehydes. The resulting yeast-derived pheromone was just as efficient and specific for trapping of H. armigera male moths in cotton fields in Greece as a conventionally produced synthetic pheromone mixture. We further demonstrated the production of (Z)-tetradec-9-en-1-yl acetate, the main pheromone component of the fall armyworm Spodoptera frugiperda. Taken together our work describes a biotech platform for the production of commercially relevant titres of moth pheromones for pest control via yeast fermentation.

Suzuki-Miyaura cross-coupling reactions of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates.

We have previously reported that the palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of air-stable potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates with aryl halides and triflates proceeds readily with good yields. Recent progress in outlining the scope and limitations of such reactions is described herein. The palladium-catalyzed cross-coupling reaction of potassium alkenyltrifluoroborates with aryl and heteroaryl halides and triflates proceeds readily with moderate to excellent yields. The alkenyl cross-coupling reaction can generally be effected using 2 mol % of PdCl2(dppf).CH2Cl2 as catalyst in i-PrOH-H2O in the presence of t-BuNH2 as the base. A variety of functional groups are tolerated in both partners, and the process is stereospecific with regard to the alkenyltrifluoroborate starting material.