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Oleaginous microalgae and yeasts represent promising candidates for large-scale production of lipids, which can be utilized for production of drop-in biofuels, nutraceuticals, pigments, and cosmetics. However, low lipid productivity and costly downstream processing continue to hamper the commercial deployment of oleaginous microorganisms. Strain improvement can play an essential role in the development of such industrial microorganisms by increasing lipid production and hence reducing production costs. The main means of strain improvement are random mutagenesis, adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), and rational genetic engineering. Among these, random mutagenesis and ALE are straight forward, low-cost, and do not require thorough knowledge of the microorganism’s genetic composition. This paper reviews available mutagenesis and ALE techniques and screening methods to effectively select for oleaginous microalgae and yeasts with enhanced lipid yield and understand the alterations caused to metabolic pathways, which could subsequently serve as the basis for further targeted genetic engineering.

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