Production of plant natural products through engineered Yarrowia lipolytica

Plant natural products have broad applications in the pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and flavor industries. However, the current manufacturing methods for plant natural products mainly rely on plant extraction and chemical synthesis, which are associated with unsustainability and severe environmental problems. The advancement of genetic technology has facilitated the engineering of microbes for producing plant natural products, but their industrial production titers remain low. Yarrowia lipolytica, a nonconventional yeast, is a promising and superior host for plant natural products manufacture, due to its advanced properties compared to conventional hosts. In this review, metabolic engineering approaches recently employed for overproduction of useful plant natural products, including terpenoids and polyketides, in Y. lipolytica are summarized. The current challenges for the biosynthesis of typical compounds are discussed and promising engineering strategies for future work are also suggested. This review provides guidance for engineering Y. lipolytica as a robust host for plant natural products production.