Heterologous overexpression of bacterial hemoglobin VHb improves erythritol biosynthesis by yeast Yarrowia lipolytica

Abstract Background Yarrowia lipolytica is an unconventional yeast with a huge industrial potential. Despite many advantages for biotechnological applications, it possesses enormous demand for oxygen, which is a bottleneck in large scale production. In this study a codon optimized bacterial hemoglobin from Vitreoscilla stercoraria (VHb) was overexpressed in Y. lipolytica for efficient growth and erythritol synthesis from glycerol in low-oxygen conditions. Erythritol is a natural sweetener produced by Y. lipolytica under high osmotic pressure and at low pH, and this process requires high oxygen demand. Results Under these conditions the VHb overexpressing strain showed mostly yeast-type cells resulting in 83% higher erythritol titer in shake-flask experiments. During a bioreactor study the engineered strain showed higher erythritol productivity (QERY = 0.38 g/l h) and yield (YERY = 0.37 g/g) in comparison to the control strain (QERY = 0.30 g/l h, YERY = 0.29 g/g). Moreover, low stirring during the fermentation process resulted in modest foam formation. Conclusions This study showed that overexpression of VHb in Y. lipolytica allows for dynamic growth and efficient production of a value-added product from a low-value substrate.