Fungi are an integral part of lignocellulosic conversion processes from enzyme to biofuel and bioproducts production. Particular filamentous fungi such as Aspergillus niger are able to produce a large variety and amount of enzymes that can deconstruct polysaccharides to sugars and lignin to aromatic substrates, that is key to maximizing the use of the carbon in the biomass feedstocks. An oleaginous yeast, Rhodosporidium toruloides, is able to utilize a variety of sugars and lignin derived molecules, is being engineered in a collaboration with the Biofuels and Bioproducts Division to produce advanced biofuels and renewable chemicals. Researchers in the Fungal Biotechnology Group utilize a broad range of molecular biology, integrated omics and modeling techniques to build more efficient tools for engineering the fungi and identifying genes important in more efficient enzyme production and higher flux to fuel precursors from diverse plant biomass substrates.
Projects
- Develop and extend genetic engineering tools and genome-scale metabolic models for fungi
- Expand the capabilities of heterologous gene expression hosts for complex metalloenzymes involved in lignin depolymerization
- Identify catabolic pathways and transporters for lignin-derived intermediates using multi-omics approaches and metabolic modeling
- Engineer fungal hosts for conversion of depolymerized lignin and polysaccharides to bioproduct and biofuel precursors
Featured Publications
- “Genome-scale model development and genomic sequencing of the oleaginous clade Lipomyces.” Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology. (2024)
- “Genome-scale and pathway engineering for the sustainable aviation fuel precursor isoprenol production in Pseudomonas putida.” Metabolic engineering. (2024)
- “Advances in genome-scale metabolic models of industrially important fungi.” Current opinion in biotechnology. (2023)
- “Advanced one-pot deconstruction and valorization of lignocellulosic biomass into triacetic acid lactone using Rhodosporidium toruloides,” Microbial Cell Factories (2022)
- “Multi-omics driven metabolic network reconstruction and analysis of lignocellulosic carbon utilization in Rhodosporidium toruloides,” Frontiers in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (2021)
- “Conversion of poplar biomass into high-energy density tricyclic sesquiterpene jet fuel blendstocks,” Microbial Cell Factories (2020)
- “Conversion of depolymerized sugars and aromatics from engineered feedstocks by two oleaginous red yeasts,” Bioresource Technology (2019)
- “A toolset of constitutive promoters for metabolic engineering of Rhodosporidium toruloides,” Microbial Cell Factories (2019)
- “Multiplexed CRISPR-Cas9-Based Genome Editing of Rhodosporidium toruloides,” mSphere (2019)
- “A new approach to Cas9-based genome editing in Aspergillus niger that is precise, efficient and selectable,” PLoS ONE (2019)
- “Functional genomics of lipid metabolism in the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides,” ELife (2018)
- “Forward genetics screen coupled with whole-genome resequencing identifies novel gene targets for improving heterologous enzyme production in Aspergillus niger”, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology (2018)
- “Rhodosporidium toruloides: a new platform organism for conversion of lignocellulose into terpene biofuels and bioproducts”, Biotechnology for Biofuels (2017)
Featured Intellectual Property
- Gene targets for improved enzyme production in fungi
- Promoter useful for high expression of a heterologous gene of interest in Aspergillus niger
