Engineering nonconventional yeasts to produce carboxylic acids: Advances and Prospects

Due to their versatile carboxy group, carboxylic acids can be used as bio-based monomers for high-value-added industrial products with great market demand. In recent years, metabolic engineering of nonconventional yeasts to produce carboxylic acids from renewable raw materials is showing increasing promise. In this review, we first summarize the characteristics of nonconventional yeasts (e.g., Yarrowia lipolytica , Candida tropicalis ), and then focus on metabolic engineering strategies for the synthesis of mono-, di- and tricarboxylic acids. Finally, the development trends of low-cost, green and large-scale biomanufacturing of carboxylic acids is prospected from the perspective of promising chassis cells and process development. This review can also provide a reference for the green manufacturing of other biobased products.