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Updated: Feb 28, 2026

Genetic Engineering of an Unconventional Yeast for Renewable Biofuel and Biochemical Production
Published on: September 20, 2016
Metabolic engineering of yeast for fermentative production of flavonoids
Angelica Rodriguez1, Tomas Strucko1, Steen Gustav Stahlhut1
1The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability, Technical University of Denmark, Kemitorvet 220, 2800 Kgs Lyngby, Denmark.
Abstract:
Yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered for de novo production of six different flavonoids (naringenin, liquiritigenin, kaempferol, resokaempferol, quercetin, and fisetin) directly from glucose, without supplementation of expensive intermediates. This required reconstruction of long biosynthetic pathways, comprising up to eight heterologous genes from plants. The obtained titers of kaempferol 26.57±2.66mgL-1 and quercetin 20.38±2.57mgL-1 exceed the previously reported titers in yeast. This is also the first report of de novo biosynthesis of resokaempferol and fisetin in yeast. The work demonstrates the potential of flavonoid-producing yeast cell factories.
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