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Butenyl-spinosyn produced by Saccharopolyspora pogona exhibits strong insecticidal activity and broad pesticidal spectrum. However, its synthetic level was low in the wild-type strain. At present, important functional genes involved in butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis remain unknown, which leads to difficulty in efficiently editing its genome to improve the butenyl-spinosyn yield. To accelerate the genetic modification of S. pogona, we conducted comparative proteomics analysis to screen differentially expressed proteins related to butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. A TetR family regulatory protein was selected from the 289 differentially expressed proteins, and its encoding gene (SP_1288) was successfully deleted by CRISPR/Cas9 system. We further deleted a 32-kb polyketide synthase gene cluster (cluster 28) to reduce the competition for precursors. Phenotypic analysis revealed that the deletion of the SP_1288 and cluster 28 resulted in a 3.10-fold increase and a 35.4% decrease in the butenyl-spinosyn levels compared with the wild-type strain, respectively. The deletion of cluster 28 affected the cell growth, glucose consumption, mycelium morphology, and sporulation by controlling the expression of ptsH, ptsI, amfC, and other genes related to sporulation, whereas SP_1288 did not. These findings confirmed not only that the CRISPR/Cas9 system can be applied to the S. pogona genome editing but also that SP_1288 and cluster 28 are closely related to the butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis and growth development of S. pogona. The strategy reported here will be useful to reveal the regulatory mechanism of butenyl-spinosyn and improve antibiotic production in other actinomycetes. KEY POINTS: • SP_1288 deletion can significantly promote the butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. • Cluster 28 deletion showed pleiotropic effects on S. pogona. • SP_1288 and cluster 28 were deleted by CRISPR/Cas9 system in S. pogona.

Background: Butenyl-spinosyn, produced by Saccharopolyspora pogona, is a promising biopesticide due to excellent insecticidal activity and broad pesticidal spectrum. Bacterioferritin (Bfr, encoded by bfr) regulates the storage and utilization of iron, which is essential for the growth and metabolism of microorganisms. However, the effect of Bfr on the growth and butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis in S. pogona has not been explored. Results: Here, we found that the storage of intracellular iron influenced butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis and the stress resistance of S. pogona, which was regulated by Bfr. The overexpression of bfr increased the production of butenyl-spinosyn by 3.14-fold and enhanced the tolerance of S. pogona to iron toxicity and oxidative damage, while the knockout of bfr had the opposite effects. Based on the quantitative proteomics analysis and experimental verification, the inner mechanism of these phenomena was explored. Overexpression of bfr enhanced the iron storage capacity of the strain, which activated polyketide synthase genes and enhanced the supply of acyl-CoA precursors to improve butenyl-spinosyn biosynthesis. In addition, it induced the oxidative stress response to improve the stress resistance of S. pogona. Conclusion: Our work reveals the role of Bfr in increasing the yield of butenyl-spinosyn and enhancing the stress resistance of S. pogona, and provides insights into its enhancement on secondary metabolism, which provides a reference for optimizing the production of secondary metabolites in actinomycetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]