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High Titer Production of Indigoidine in Rhodosporidium toruloides 2018-129

APPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY:

  • Dye and pigment
  • Bio-based materials
  • Strain engineering

ADVANTAGES:

  • Very high titer production
  • Draws from a wide set of renewable carbon sources
  • More environmentally friendly than previous methods

ABSTRACT:       

Researchers at Berkeley Lab’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered a fungal strain Rhodosporidium toruloides to produce high levels of indigoidine, a redox active blue pigment. The technology utilizes a wide set of renewable carbon sources (glucose, glycerol, and hydrolysate). Production was also demonstrated from plants biomass hydrolysates and using the common yeast host, S. cerevisiae. Using R. toruloides glutamine is converted to indigoidine at very high titers  > 18 grams/liter from glucose.

Current industrial production of dyes is predominantly achieved via chemical synthesis, a harsh process that can involve toxic precursors and generate hazardous chemicals as byproducts. In contrast, microbial production of such dyes has the potential to address these environmental concerns while providing higher production levels attained from simple starting materials. R. toruloides, an oleaginous yeast, serves as a valuable new microbial platform that can convert a diverse set of renewable carbon sources to final products.

DEVELOPMENT STAGE: Proven principle

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Kovner, Aliyah, “Blue Pigment from Engineered Fungi Could Help Turn the Textile Industry Green,” Berkeley Lab News Center, June 21, 2019.

Wehrs, M., Gladden JM, Liu Y, Platz L, Prahl J-P, Moon J, Papa G, Sundstrom E, Geiselman GM, Tanjore D, Keasling JD, Pray TR, Simmons BA Mukhopadhyay A* Sustainable bioproduction of the blue pigment indigoidine: Expanding the range of heterologous products in R. toruloides to include non-ribosomal peptides Green Chemistry 2019

Wehrs M, Prahl JP, Moon J, Li Y, Tanjore D, Keasling JD, Pray T, Mukhopadhyay A* Production efficiency of the bacterial non- ribosomal peptide indigoidine relies on the respiratory metabolic state in S. cerevisiae Microbial Cell Factories 2018

STATUS: Patent pending. Available for licensing or collaborative research.

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High-Level Production of Fatty Alcohols from Engineered Yeast 2017-097