Bioprocess engineering for the production of geraniol by Yarrowia lipolytica

• Grant number: 23/18192-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: March 01, 2024
• Status: Discontinued
• Field of knowledge: Agronomical Sciences - Food Science and Technology - Food Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Thiago Olitta Basso
• Grantee: Mayra Paula de Souza e Sousa
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 22/03052-0 - Metabolic and evolutionary engineering of non-conventional yeasts for bioactive terpenoid production, AP.PNGP.PI
• Associated scholarship(s): 25/01995-3 - Metabolic and evolutionary engineering of non-conventional yeasts for the production of bioactive terpenes, BE.EP.MS

Abstract

Geraniol is a monoterpene commonly used as a fragrance in the cosmetics industry, but it also has antimicrobial and antitumor potential, making it a highly relevant molecule. However, its main production routes are the extraction from plants or its chemical synthesis, inefficient processes, with expensive or polluting steps. Therefore, the project aims to optimize the cultivation conditions in bioreactors to avoid hyphae formation and to enhance terpene biosynthesis in a strain of the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica engineered with the geraniol synthase (GES) gene. Strain cultivation and production of geraniol will be tested under different pH and dissolved oxygen conditions. Additionally, adaptive laboratory evolution will be used to enhance the tolerance toward geraniol in this strain.