Production and characterization of two medium-chain-length polydroxyalkanoates by engineered strains of Yarrowia lipolytica

Abstract

Background The oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica is an organism of choice for the tailored production of various compounds such as biofuels or biopolymers. When properly engineered, it is capable of producing medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA), a biobased and biodegradable polymer that can be used as bioplastics or biopolymers for environmental and biomedical applications. Results This study describes the bioproduction and the main properties of two different mcl-PHA polymers. We generated by metabolic engineering, strains of Y . lipolytica capable of accumulating more than 25% (g/g) of mcl-PHA polymers. Depending of the strain genetic background and the culture conditions, we produced (i) a mcl-PHA homopolymer of 3-hydroxydodecanoic acids, with a mass-average molar mass (M w ) of 316,000 g/mol, showing soft thermoplastic properties with potential applications in packaging and (ii) a mcl-PHA copolymer made of 3-hydroxyoctanoic (3HO), decanoic (3HD), dodecanoic (3HDD) and tetradecanoic (3TD) acids with a M w of 128,000 g/mol, behaving like a thermoplastic elastomer with potential applications in biomedical material. Conclusion The ability to engineer Y. lipolytica to produce tailored PHAs together with the range of possible applications regarding their biophysical and mechanical properties opens new perspectives in the field of PHA bioproduction. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s12934-019-1140-y) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Engineering the Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for Production of Polylactic Acid Homopolymer

“…The second step for PLA production is the polymerization of D-lactyl-CoA into PDLA by the PHA synthase ( Supplementary Figure S1). The ability of the yeast Y. lipolytica to produce PHA polymers in peroxisomes has been demonstrated previously by targeting a PHA synthase from P. aeruginosa to this compartment (Haddouche et al, 2010(Haddouche et al, , 2011Gao et al, 2015;Rigouin et al, 2019). The ability of the PHA synthase from Pseudomonas species to produce polymer containing lactic acid was already demonstrated in bacteria (for example, see Taguchi et al, 2008).…”

“…We investigated three cellular compartments (cytosol, mitochondria and peroxisomes) for the two steps of the PDLA production pathway. Mitochondria present the advantage of a high acetyl-CoA pool (Xua et al, 2016), which is essential as it is the co-substrate of the reaction for the CoA transferase activity of the PCT, whereas peroxisomes have already been proven to be a good environment for PHA production (Rigouin et al, 2019). It is interesting to note that the best PDLA production is obtained when the two enzymes of the pathway are located in different cellular compartments.…”

“…Interestingly, this yeast has also been proven to be convenient for the production of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) (Haddouche et al, 2010(Haddouche et al, , 2011Gao et al, 2015). A recent work showed that PHA accumulation can reach up to 25% DCW (Rigouin et al, 2019), which demonstrates the potential use of this yeast for polymer accumulation.…”

Recent Advances in Bioplastics: Application and Biodegradation

“…The reports on medium chain length (mcl) PHA-based polymers with potential packaging application are scarce. Recently, Rigouin and colleagues reported on a mclPHA homopolymer of (R)-3-hydroxydodecanoic acids, with a molar mass (Mw) of 316,000 g/mol, a soft thermoplastic with potential applications in packaging [295]. This homopolymer produced by an engineered yeast Yarrowia lipolytica showed high tensile strength and low Young's modulus, similarly to polyethylene [295].…”

Acetate Production from Cafeteria Wastes and Corn Stover Using a Thermophilic Anaerobic Consortium: A Prelude Study for the Use of Acetate for the Production of Value-Added Products

“…Acetyl-CoA is subsequently utilized in fatty acid (FA) synthesis and results in lipid accumulation [33]. Recent studies have also explored the potential of native and engineered Y.lipolytica to synthesize products other than lipids including itaconic acid [34], erythritol [35], citric acid [36], carotenoids [37], and polyhydroxyalkanoates [38]. So far, most studies on bioproduct synthesis by oleaginous microorganisms like Yarrowia lipolytica have been carried out with glucose as a carbon source.…”