Recently, our group engineered and optimized Ogataea polymorpha for bioproduction of β-farnesene from sole methanol.

β-Farnesene is widely used in the production of polymers, surfactants, lubricants, and also serves as a suitable substitute for jet fuel. Microbial biosynthesis provides a feasible approach to sustainably produce β-farnesene from renewable feedstocks. Methanol is an ideal feedstock for bio-manufacturing since it can be massively produced from CO₂ through green energy, such as solar energy.

In this study, the researchers systematically engineered O. polymorpha by using multiple engineering strategies to construct corresponding engineering strains for efficient production of β-farnesene. Particularly, we used a fatty acid overproducing strain as chassis for β-farnesene biosynthesis (Nat. Metab., 2022), since which has been extensively engineered for efficient supply of acetyl-CoA and NADPH, and adaptively evolved for methanol tolerance. Further optimizing MVA pathway and engineering acetyl-CoA supply enabled production of 14.7 g/L β-farnesene in the 5-L fed-batch bioreactor, achieving the highest titer reported from C1 feedstocks.

This study was published in Metabolic engineering. This study was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China and DICP innovation grant. (Text and image by Jingjing Li).

Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymben.2024.08.006

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