Biofuel is in high demand as an alternative energy source for petroleum and diesel. Fatty acid-based biofuel has higher energy density and better compatibility with existing infrastructures. Microbial fatty acid biosynthetic pathway is important to develop biofuel. In this article, recent progresses on the modification and reconstruction of fatty acid metabolism for the production of biofuel were reviewed, with a focus on micro-diesel, long chain fatty alcohol and alkane. Problems, solutions and directions for further development of fatty acid-based biofuel were also discussed in the respect of synthetic biology.
Alkanes ; metabolism ; Bacteria ; genetics ; metabolism ; Biofuels ; Fatty Acids ; metabolism ; Fatty Alcohols ; metabolism ; Fungi ; genetics ; metabolism ; Genetic Engineering ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae ; genetics ; metabolism

Methylotrophic yeasts are considered as promising cell factories for bio-manufacturing due to their several advantages such as tolerance to low pH and high temperature. In particular, their methanol utilization ability may help to establish a methanol biotransformation process, which will expand the substrate resource for bio-refinery and the product portfolio from methanol. This review summarize current progress on engineering methylotrophic yeasts for production of proteins and chemicals, and compare the strengths and weaknesses with the model yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The challenges and possible solutions in metabolic engineering of methylotrophic yeasts are also discussed. With the developing efficient genetic tools and systems biology, the methylotrophic yeasts should play more important roles in future green bio-manufacturing.
Metabolic Engineering ; Methanol ; Saccharomyces cerevisiae/genetics* ; Yeasts

Fatty acids (FA) are widely used as feed stocks for the production of cosmetics, personal hygiene products, lubricants and biofuels. Ogataea polymorpha is considered as an ideal chassis for bio-manufacturing, due to its outstanding characteristics such as methylotroph, thermal-tolerance and wide substrate spectrum. In this study, we harnessed O. polymorpha for overproduction of fatty acids by engineering its fatty acid metabolism and optimizing the fermentation process. The engineered strain produced 1.86 g/L FAs under the optimized shake-flask conditions (37℃, pH 6.4, a C/N ratio of 120 and an OD₆₀₀ of seed culture of 6-8). The fed-batch fermentation process was further optimized by using a dissolved oxygen (DO) control strategy. The C/N ratio of initial medium was 17.5, and the glucose medium with a C/N ratio of 120 was fed when the DO was higher than 30%. This operation resulted in a titer of 18.0 g/L FA, indicating the potential of using O. polymorpha as an efficient cell factory for the production of FA.
Culture Media ; Fatty Acids ; Fermentation ; Metabolic Engineering ; Saccharomycetales/metabolism*