Yarrowia lipolytica as a biotechnological chassis to produce usual and unusual fatty acids

Abstract

One of the most promising alternatives to petroleum for the production of fuels and chemicals is bio-oil based chemistry. Microbial oils are gaining importance because they can be engineered to accumulate lipids enriched in desired fatty acids. These specific lipids are closer to the commercialized product, therefore reducing pollutants and costly chemical steps. Yarrowia lipolytica is the most widely studied and engineered oleaginous yeast. Different molecular and bioinformatics tools permit systems metabolic engineering strategies in this yeast, which can produce usual and unusual fatty acids. Usual fatty acids, those usually found in triacylglycerol, accumulate through the action of several pathways, such as fatty acid/triacylglycerol synthesis, transport and degradation. Unusual fatty acids are enzymatic modifications of usual fatty acids to produce compounds that are not naturally synthetized in the host. Recently, the metabolic engineering of microorganisms has produced different unusual fatty acids, such as building block ricinoleic acid and nutraceuticals such as conjugated linoleic acid or polyunsaturated fatty acids. Additionally, microbial sources are preferred hosts for the production of fatty acid-derived compounds such as γ-decalactone, hexanal and dicarboxylic acids. The variety of lipids produced by oleaginous microorganisms is expected to rise in the coming years to cope with the increasing demand.

Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for Enhanced Production of Lipid and Citric Acid

“…In the final step of the TAG synthesis pathway, DGA1, YALI0E32769g on the lipid droplet (LD) membrane, and DGA2, YALI0D07986g in the ER, play prominent roles in acylation of diacylglycerol to produce TAG, which is stored in LDs especially during the stationary phase [49][50][51]. Therefore, the overexpression of DGA1 and DGA2 results in enhanced lipid accumulation [3,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59]. TAG synthesis and remobilization is a dynamic process.…”

Characterization of yeast in hapludands soil with biotechnological potential

“…Many of these yeasts accumulate lipids in the form of trialkylglycerols (TAGs), mainly in the cytoplasmic membrane, and the production of TAGs increases during nutrient limitation (Arous et al, 2015). Currently, research on the accumulation of yeast lipids and lipids generated by other oil-producing microorganisms is mainly focused on: (i) optimizing pilot-scale lipid production including residual raw materials as a source of energy (Polburee et al, 2015), (ii) the search for strategies in the culture to optimize the lipid production process and (iii) the determination of metabolic and molecular aspects involved in lipid accumulation (Ledesma-Amaro et al, 2016).…”

Metabolic Engineering for Expanding the Substrate Range of Yarrowia lipolytica

“…Such compounds can be blocked at the transport level and thus prevented from entering the cell, rapidly degraded if allowed inside, inactivated via conjugation, or pumped out of the cell. oils and fatty acid-derived compounds, being a potential alternative for petroleum in biofuels and green chemical production [1,2]. Additionally, Y. lipolytica may be used to produce chemicals such as organic acids (citrate, isocitrate, alpha-ketoglutarate, pyruvate, and succinate), polyalcohols, carotenoids, alkanes, and aromatics [3][4][5][6][7][8][9].…”