Remaining Challenges in the Metabolic Engineering of Yeasts for Biofuels

Abstract

Yeasts serve as an attractive host organism for the production of biofuels from biomass. These organisms are well suited for industrial fermentation and have many advantages in biomass conversion processes. However, many challenges still remain that limit overall production efficiency, especially for the case of converting lignocellulose. This chapter first highlights advances in metabolic engineering, systems biology, and synthetic biology that support the rewiring of yeasts for fuels applications. Next, we address challenges and advances in moving beyond glucose as the sole carbon source. Finally, we address opportunities for the future by describing advances in moving beyond bioethanol as the fuel and describe methodologies to move beyond current limits of rate, titer, and yield. ？ 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.