OVERVIEW
Yarrowia lipolytica is an up and coming yeast species gaining interest in the molecular biology community. Its oleaginous nature and its GRAS status make it a suitable chassis in food and nutrition applications. While there are synthetic biology tools for Y. lipolytica emerging in the greater scientific community, only a few iGEM teams have worked with this chassis, resulting in a limited number of Y. lipolytica parts available in the iGEM Registry of Standard Biological Parts.
While we are providing our Y. lipolytica collection to the registry, two of our parts (BBa_K3629013 and BBa_K3629016) in particular have been modelled and designed for optimal activity in Y. lipolytica. Once we have greater access to the lab, we plan to characterize these two parts (along with our other parts), and add characterization to an existing Y. lipolytica promoter in the registry (BBa_K2117000) that is important to our experimental design. Read more about our plans below!
PART DESIGN
Thoughtful design of genetic constructs
In order to provide a sustainable, community-based solution, we plan to genetically modify Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast that naturally produces beta-carotene and lipids, to be more robust and resource-efficient. By modifying the yeast to produce cellulase, it can then use common agricultural waste products as an energy source for synthesizing its oil. It can then be eaten as a vitamin A supplement. The yeast strain, while naturally safe and non-pathogenic, will also be genetically modified to include a kill switch for bio-containment, and optimized for oil production.
EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
Thoughtful design of experiments
In order to provide a sustainable, community-based solution, we plan to genetically modify Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast that naturally produces beta-carotene and lipids, to be more robust and resource-efficient. By modifying the yeast to produce cellulase, it can then use common agricultural waste products as an energy source for synthesizing its oil. It can then be eaten as a vitamin A supplement. The yeast strain, while naturally safe and non-pathogenic, will also be genetically modified to include a kill switch for bio-containment, and optimized for oil production.
FUTURE DIRECTIONS
Next Steps
In order to provide a sustainable, community-based solution, we plan to genetically modify Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast that naturally produces beta-carotene and lipids, to be more robust and resource-efficient. By modifying the yeast to produce cellulase, it can then use common agricultural waste products as an energy source for synthesizing its oil. It can then be eaten as a vitamin A supplement. The yeast strain, while naturally safe and non-pathogenic, will also be genetically modified to include a kill switch for bio-containment, and optimized for oil production.