Author(s):
Aguiar, Tatiana Quinta ; Silva, R. ; Domingues, Lucília
Date: 2015
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/38714
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Project/scholarship:
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876/147337/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876-PPCDTI/126270/PT
;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/COMPETE/126270/PT;
Subject(s): Ashbya gossypii; Physiology; Metabolism; Genetic engineering; Riboflavin; Recombinant proteins; Single cell oil; Flavour compounds; Science & Technology
Description
The filamentous fungus Ashbya gossypii has been safely and successfully used for more than two decades in the commercial production of riboflavin (vitamin B2). Its industrial relevance combined with its high genetic similarity with Saccharomyces cerevisiae together promoted the accumulation of fundamental knowledge that has been efficiently converted into a significant molecular and in silico toolbox for its genetic engineering. This synergy has enabled a directed and sustained exploitation of A. gossypii as an industrial riboflavin producer. Although there is still room for optimizing riboflavin production, the recent years have seen an abundant advance in the exploration of A. gossypii for other biotechnological applications, such as the production of recombinant proteins, single cell oil and flavour compounds. Here, we will address the biotechnological potential of A. gossypii beyond riboflavin production by presenting (a) a physiological and metabolic perspective over this fungus; (b) the molecular toolbox available for its manipulation; and (c) commercial and emerging biotechnological applications for this industrially important fungus, together with the approaches adopted for its engineering.
The authors thank the financial support from the Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal, through the Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit (Post-Doc fellowship UMINHO/BPD/36/2015 to T. Q. Aguiar), the project RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012 (FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462) and the project "BioInd - Biotechnology and Bioengineering for improved Industrial and Agro-Food processes", REF. NORTE-07-0124-FEDER-000028, co-funded by the Programa Operacional Regional do Norte (ON.2 - O Novo Norte), QREN, FEDER.
