Organic acids from lignocellulose: Candida lignohabitans as a new microbial cell factory

Biorefinery applications require microbial cell factories for the conversion of various sugars derived from lignocellulosic material into value-added chemicals. Here, the capabilities of the yeast Candida lignohabitans to utilize a range of such sugars is characterized. Substrates efficiently converted by this yeast include the pentoses xylose and arabinose. Genetic engineering of C. lignohabitans with the isolated endogenous GAP promoter and GAP terminator was successful. GFP expression was used as a proof of functionality for the isolated transcription elements. Expression of lactate dehydrogenase and cis-aconitate decarboxylase resulted in stable and reproducible production of lactic acid and itaconic acid, respectively. The desired organic acids were accumulated converting pure sugars as well as lignocellulosic hydrolysates. C. lignohabitans proved therefore to be a promising reliable microbial host for production of organic acids from lignocellulosic material.