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Updated: Jul 1, 2025

Genetic Engineering of an Unconventional Yeast for Renewable Biofuel and Biochemical Production
Published on: September 20, 2016
Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica as a Cellulolytic Cell Factory for Production of p-Coumaric Acid from Cellulose and
Jiarui Zhu1, Shu Yang1, Qing Cao
1Key Lab of Molecular Biophysics of Ministry of Education, College of Life Science and Technology, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, 1037 Luoyu Road, Wuhan 430074, China.
Abstract:
De novo biosynthesis of high-value added food additive p-coumaric acid (p-CA) direct from cellulose/hemicellulose is a more sustainable route compared to the chemical route, considering the abundant cellulose/hemicellulose resources. In this study, a novel factory was constructed for the production of p-CA in Yarrowia lipolytica using cellulose/hemicellulose as the sole carbon source. Based on multicopy integration of the TAL gene and reprogramming the shikimic acid pathway, the engineered strain produced 1035.5 ± 67.8 mg/L p-CA using glucose as a carbon source. The strains with overexpression of cellulases and hemicellulases produced 84.3 ± 2.4 and 65.3 ± 4.6 mg/L p-CA, using cellulose (carboxymethyl-cellulose) or hemicellulose (xylan from bagasse) as the carbon source, respectively. This research demonstrated the feasibility of conversion of cost-effective cellulose/hemicellulose into a value-added product and provided a sustainable cellulolytic cell factory for the utilization of cellulose/hemicellulose.

