High-yield lipid production from lignocellulosic biomass using engineered xylose-utilizing Yarrrowia lipolytica

Abstract

Lignocellulosic biomass shows high potential as a renewable feedstock for use in biodiesel production via microbial fermentation. Yarrowia lipolytica, an emerging oleaginous yeast, has been engineered to efficiently convert xylose, the second most abundant sugar in lignocellulosic biomass, into lipids for lignocellulosic biodiesel production. Yet, the lipid yield from xylose or lignocellulosic biomass remains far lower than that from glucose. Here we developed an efficient xylose&#8208

utilizing Y. lipolytica strain, expressing an isomerase&#8208

based pathway, to achieve high&#8208

yield lipid production from lignocellulosic biomass. The newly developed xylose&#8208

utilizing Y. lipolytica, YSXID, produced 12.01 g/L lipids with a maximum yield of 0.16 g/g, the highest ever reported, from lignocellulosic hydrolysates. Consequently, this study shows the potential of isomerase&#8208

based xylose&#8208

utilizing Y. lipolytica for economical and sustainable production of biodiesel and oleochemicals from lignocellulosic biomass.