Myrcene, a monoterpene (C10), has gathered attention as a starting material for high-value
compounds, such as geraniol/linalool and (−)-menthol. Metabolic engineering has been
successfully applied to produce monoterpenes, such as pinene and limonene, at high levels
in microbial hosts. However, microbial synthesis of myrcene has not yet been reported.
Thus, we metabolically engineered Escherichia coli for production of myrcene by introducing
a heterologous mevalonate pathway and overexpressing tailoring enzymes, such as geranyl …

Abstract Myrcene, a monoterpene (C10), has gathered attention as a starting material for
high-value compounds, such as geraniol/linalool and (-)-menthol. Metabolic engineering
has been successfully applied to produce monoterpenes, such as pinene and limonene, at
high levels in microbial hosts. However, microbial synthesis of myrcene has not yet been
reported. Thus, we metabolically engineered Escherichia coli for production of myrcene by
introducing a heterologous mevalonate pathway and overexpressing tailoring enzymes …