Mobilising the enzymatic potential of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to create a powerful cellular production platform for lipid-derived industrial materials

Objective

This proposal aims at developing a versatile fermentation platform for the conversion of lipid feed stocks into diverse added-value products. It is proposed to develop the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica into a microbial factory by directing its versatile lipid metabolism towards the production of industrially valuable compounds like wax esters (WE), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA’s), free hydroxyl fatty acids (HFA’s) and isoprenoid-derived compounds (carotenoids, polyenic carotenoid ester). Conversion of lipid intermediates into these products will be achieved by introducing heterologous enzyme functions isolated from marine hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria into Yarrowia. To achieve these goals we have assembled a team with a broad set of complementary expertise in microbial physiology, metabolic engineering, yeast lipid metabolism, metagenomics, biochemical and protein engineering. Already available for this project are a number of genetically engineered Yarrowia strains as well as a collection of genes encoding enzymes for the production of WE’s, 3-HFA’s, PHA’s and carotenoids. The following complementary research focus areas are proposed: (1) Engineering of metabolic precursor pools in Yarrowia lipolytica for the production of added-value products from lipids (INRA, UGe). (2) Conversion of metabolic precursor pools in Yarrowia to added-value products by overexpressing heterologous biosynthetic enzymes (UGe, INRA, UoM). (3) Discovery and characterization of novel aliphatic enzyme activities by metagenomic screening of marine hydrocarbonoclastic and other oil- and fat-metabolizing microbial communities (TUBS, UoN). The project is further complemented by: (i) the activity of a professional valorization company (Ascenion) providing IP protection and commercialization services; (ii) by proactive efforts to expand the project’s target products’ application potential (Avecom).

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

• natural sciences biological sciences microbiology bacteriology
• natural sciences biological sciences microbiology microbiomes
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules lipids
• engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials bioplastics polyhydroxyalkanoates
• natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

• Yarrowia lipolytica
• carotenoids
• hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria
• hydroxyl fatty acids
• isoprenoids
• lipids
• polyhydroxyalkanoates
• wax esters
• yeast

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

• FP7-KBBE - Specific Programme "Cooperation": Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

• KBBE-2007-3-2-02 - LIPID ENZYMES - Development of enzymes for lipid modification and activation

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

FP7-KBBE-2007-1
See other projects for this call

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

CP-FP - Small or medium-scale focused research project

Coordinator

Participants (6)