Author(s): Baptista, Sara Isabel Leite ; Costa, Carlos E. ; Cunha, Joana Filipa Torres Pinheiro ; Soares, Pedro Miguel Oliveira ; Domingues, Lucília
Date: 2021
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/70591
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Metabolic engineering; High-value biobased products; Biorefineries; Renewable carbon sources; Science & Technology
The implementation of biorefineries for a cost-effective and sustainable production of energy and chemicals from renewable carbon sources plays a fundamental role in the transition to a circular economy. The US Department of Energy identified a group of key target compounds that can be produced from biorefinery carbohydrates. In 2010, this list was revised and included organic acids (lactic, succinic, levulinic and 3-hydroxypropionic acids), sugar alcohols (xylitol and sorbitol), furans and derivatives (hydroxymethylfurfural, furfural and furandicarboxylic acid), biohydrocarbons (isoprene), and glycerol and its derivatives. The use of substrates like lignocellulosic biomass that impose harsh culture conditions drives the quest for the selection of suitable robust microorganisms. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, widely utilized in industrial processes, has been extensively engineered to produce high-value chemicals. For its robustness, ease of handling, genetic toolbox and fitness in an industrial context, S. cerevisiae is an ideal platform for the founding of sustainable bioprocesses. Taking these into account, this review focuses on metabolic engineering strategies that have been applied to S. cerevisiae for converting renewable resources into the previously identified chemical targets. The heterogeneity of each chemical and its manufacturing process leads to inevitable differences between the development stages of each process. Currently, 8 of 11 of these top value chemicals have been already reported to be produced by recombinant S. cerevisiae. While some of them are still in an early proof-of-concept stage, others, like xylitol or lactic acid, are already being produced from lignocellulosic biomass. Furthermore, the constant advances in genome-editing tools, e.g. CRISPR/Cas9, coupled with the application of innovative process concepts such as consolidated bioprocessing, will contribute for the establishment of S. cerevisiae-based biorefineries.
This work was supported by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) under the scope of the strategic funding of UIDB/ 04469/2020, the PhD grants (SFRH/BD/132717/2017 to SLB, SFRH/ BD/130739/2017 to CEC and SFRH/BD/146367/2019 to POS), the MIT-Portugal Program (Ph.D. Grant PD/BD/128247/2016 to JTC), BioTecNorte operation (NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000004) and Biomass and Bioenergy Research Infrastructure (BBRI)- LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER- 022059 funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the scope of Norte2020 - Programa Operacional Regional do Norte.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
