Metabolic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica for the synthesis of added value chemicals

Y. lipolytica is a non-conventional yeast, well-known for its unusual metabolic properties. Based on its ability to secrete high amounts of proteins and metabolites of biotechnological interest, Y. lipolytica has several industrial applications, including heterologous protein synthesis or citric acid production. We will report on strain development for the synthesis of two added value chemicals: erythritol and erythrulose. Erythritol is a four-carbon sugar alcohol with application as food additive due to its sweetening properties. Erythrulose is a derivative of erythritol and is an intermediate of its catabolism. It has application as sunless tanning agent and as precursor for the synthesis of different drugs. By overexpressing gene GUT1 and TKL1, which encode a glycerol kinase and a transketolase, respectively, strain-overproducing erythritol were obtained. Erythrulose producing strain was obtained by deleting gene YALI0F01606g than code for an erythrulose kinase.