BIV 01: Transplanting biomass utilisation machinery into an industrial yeast for an affordable bioproduction

Project lead

Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro

Institute

Imperial College London

This project combines the expertise of the academic partner in engineering substrate utilisation in the industrial yeast Yarrowia lipolytica with previously engineered strains that produce high value products created by the technology of the industrial partner.

Aims

This project aimed at producing high value terpenes in yeast using low-cost substrates.

Outcomes

During this partnership, we have created new yeast strains with high production capacity of valuable molecules for the fragrance industry. We have also engineered those strains to give them the capacity to grow on xylose, and therefore allowing them to use lignocellulosic materials as substrate. The best performing strains are currently being optimise in bioreactor conditions at different scales to evaluate their commercialisation potential.

Impact

This work will have impact in academic research, since we have developed a new toolbox for protein secretion that can be used for many other purposes. In addition, the project will have impact in industrial research, microbial biotechnology and circular bioeconomy if the strains perform well at large scale. Finally, this project has helped to established collaborations with labs in France and Denmark, which will have an impact beyond the scope of this project.

Academic Partner: Rodrigo Ledesma-Amaro, Imperial College London

Industrial Partner: Adriana Botes, Viderabio