Prospect on the effect of endogenous S. cerevisiae transporters overexpression on succinic acid production from glycerol in a modified yeast strain

• Grant number: 22/15798-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research Internship - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 08, 2024
• End date: April 07, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Genetics - Molecular Genetics and Genetics of Microorganisms
• Principal Investigator: Gonçalo Amarante Guimarães Pereira
• Grantee: João Miguel Spavieri
• Supervisor: Elke Nevoigt
• Host Institution: Instituto de Biologia (IB). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Jacobs University, Germany
• Associated to the scholarship: 22/04476-9 - Optimization of ethanol production in S. cerevisiae by moderate regulation of glucose metabolism genes using the CRISPR-dCas9 system, BP.IC

Abstract

For the last years, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been used for a myriad of purposes - as a "cell factory" for the production of different compounds to gene technology model for eukaryotic organisms. In light of this, yeast metabolic engineering has arisen as an effective method to enable production of chemicals of interest that wouldn't be produced by wild type strains. Modified microorganisms have been praised by its versatility and productivity capacity, characteristics of interest in a scenario where public policies are promoting a higher demand for biotechnological processes, ultimately in the framework of biorefineries. In this context, glycerol - a by-product of the biofuel industry - has been explored as a substrate for high added-value molecule production by yeasts, because of its high degree of reduction per carbon that results in higher theoretical product yields. In this context, succinic acid (SA) represents an appealing molecule to be produced from glycerol using yeast, given its elevated commercial interest and high rate of CO2 fixation within the microbial metabolism. Although great advances have been achieved recently in the construction of modified S. cerevisiae producing SA, reported yields are still distant from the theoretical maximum, which is expected to be improved through an anaerobic process. Nonetheless, the current top-performing strain requires high levels of ATP for the export of SA, impairing product yield in the absence of oxygen. Therefore, further investigation on the export mechanisms of this organic acid in a modified S. cerevisiae is paramount for the optimization of SA production from glycerol. (AU)