Tool development enables efficient engineering of the yeast Starmerella bombicola for uniform biosurfactant production from waste streams

The yeast Starmerella bombicola is a natural producer of sophorolipids. The basic structure of these molecules consist of a hydrophilic sophorose head and a lipophilic fatty acid tail, giving them amphiphilic surfactant properties. As they are made from sugars and fatty acids and are readily biodegradable, sophorolipids offer a green alternative to fossil oil derived surfactants in for example detergents, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and more. Despite the gaining interest for and the research performed on this yeast, S. bombicola still is an unconventional organism, with rather limited engineering possibilities. Therefore, standardized parts for a Golden Gate based approach were developed to broaden and speed up engineering strategies undertaken with this yeast. This then allowed the engineering of Starmerella bombicola for increasing productivity, making the production more uniform and allowing the usage of waste derived streams for the sustainable and competitive production of biosurfactants