Metabolic engineering of Yarrowia lipolytica to produce fatty acids and their derivatives

Microbial-derived fatty acids and their derivatives are widely used in the fields of energy, materials and nutritional chemicals, and can be used to produce aviation fuels, polymers, plasticizers, lubricants and food additives. Yarrowia lipolytica is one of the well-studied oleaginous yeasts, which has the potential of producing various fatty acids and their derivatives. In this paper, the development of genetic manipulation tools of Yarrowia lipolytica is firstly summarized, and the progress of engineering Yarrowia lipolytica to produce fatty acids and their derivatives using the metabolic engineering and the emerging synthetic biology tools is then reviewed. Finally, the trends of constructing Yarrowia lipolytica cell factory to produce these products are prospected. © 2021, Editorial Board of CIESC Journal. All right reserved.