EngineeringYarrowia lipolyticaforde novoproduction of tetraacetyl phytosphingosine

To genetically engineer the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica for de novo production of tetraacetylphytosphingosine (TAPS), a precursor of phytosphingosine, and optimization of fermentation conditions for high yield. We successfully constructed a TAPS‐producing Y. lipolytica CE3 strain by co‐expression of Wickerhamomyces ciferrii‐derived acetyl transferases, Sli1p and Atf2p. Next, we optimized several environmental factors including temperature, initial pH and C/N ratio for TAPS production in a shake culture. Deletion of LCB4 in CE3 strain increased the volumetric TAPS titre and cell‐specific yield to 142·1 ± 10·7 mgTAPS l−1 and 3·08 ± 0·11 mgTAPS gDCW−1, respectively, in a shake flask culture incubated for 120 h at 28°C with glycerol as the carbon source. Finally, we developed a 5‐l fed‐batch process with NaOH‐mediated pH control and olive oil as a carbon source, exhibiting 650 ± 24 …