Oxidative versus reductive succinic acid production in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Abstract

Bio-based succinic acid is receiving increasing attention, as it could provide a cost-effective, ecologically sustainable alternative to the current petrochemical production process, thus promising a significantly higher market potential. The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is a robust and well-established industrial production organism exhibiting an extraordinarily high acid- and osmotolerance. These features in conjunction with the sophisticated toolbox for genetic engineering make it particularly suitable for succinic acid production. The high tolerance towards acidity is a major advantage over previously established bacterial succinic acid production hosts, since it makes the use of neutralization salts dispensable and thus enormously facilitates the downstream process. By constructing yeast strains capable of producing significant amounts of succinic acid, we have recently established S. cerevisiae as a promising host for succinic acid production. Our metabolic engineering strategyrelied on the implementation of an oxidativeproduction route using the yoxylatecycle. We here discuss theoreticaland practical aspects of oxidative and reductive succinic acid production routes in S. cerevisiae. © 2011 Landes Bioscience.