Metabolic Engineering of Oleaginous Yeasts as Feedstock for Biodiesel Production

Cooperating countries: Nigeria and Austria

Coordinating institution: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU), Anna Maria Erian anna.erian@boku.ac.at 

Partner institutions: Redeemers University

Project duration: 

Budget: EUR 39.200

Abstract: 

Plant materials, particularly seeds, are sources of lipids that serve as feedstock for biodiesel production. In general, it takes months or years for plants to grow, mature, and produce seeds, and some are highly sought after as food. Furthermore, most of the lipids isolated from these seeds are either in complex forms with glycerol and other lipids, or highly unsaturated, rendering them lowquality biodiesel feedstock. The potential to produce saturated free fatty acids (FFAs), the rapid growth, and the fact that microbial oils are not presently used as food, render oleaginous yeasts promising as alternative lipid feedstock for biodiesel production.

To use microbial lipids for biodiesel production, they need to be produced with high yields in a good quality. In order to achieve this, we aim to (i) isolate, characterize, and identify a novel oleaginous yeast from crude oil contaminated soil in Nigeria using enrichment methods; (ii) evaluate the impact of different environmental conditions on lipid production, (iii) genetically modify the organism by overexpressing key genes involved in lipid synthesis to increase lipid yields. Additionally, the quality of the biodiesel produced from the obtained microbial lipids will be assessed.

The project aims to expand the list of oleaginous microorganisms which can be used as sustainable feedstock for biodiesel (i.e. green energy) production by sourcing new isolates from nature and enhancing its properties via metabolic engineering. Consequently, the project directly contributes to reach the Sustainable Development Goals for Affordable and Clean Energy (SDG 7), Industrial Development and Innovation (SDG 9), and indirectly to sustaining Life on Earth (SDG 15) by reducing the reliance on oil crops for non-food uses.