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Updated: Feb 4, 2026

Experimental Protocol for Biodiesel Production with Isolation of Alkenones as Coproducts from Commercial Isochrysis Algal Biomass
Published on: June 24, 2016
Recent advancements in fungal-derived fuel and chemical production and commercialization
Holly Ekas1, Matthew Deaner1, Hal S Alper2
1McKetta Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin, 200 E Dean Keeton St. Stop C0400, Austin, TX, 78712, United States.
Abstract:
Due to unsustainable petroleum supply and poor yields from plant and animal sources, there is an increased effort to engineer microbial hosts for renewable chemical production. When compared to microbes such as Escherichia coli, fungal hosts show advantages due to their natural robust tolerance for industrial fermentation. Synthetic biology has focused on implementing heterologous pathways and manipulating native flux towards downstream products to achieve industrial productivity, titers, and yields. This review highlights recent advances in the engineering of yeasts for fuels and other molecules. As the field progresses, strains with improved productivities will begin to compete with the traditional chemical-based industrial approaches.
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