Engineering yeast chassis strains for highly efficient limonene production

 Limonene is a cyclic monoterpene that is abundant in nature and has more industrial applications. Global limonene market size is increasing at a significant rate, but its production is largely limited by the methods, extraction and chemical synthesis, which are normally used for limonene production right now. Therefore, one sustainable supply of limonene is of great interest. Besides, with the development of synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, many monoterpenes have been successfully synthesized by engineered yeast. In this project, I will engineer industrial strains for highly efficient limonene production. To achieve this goal, three steps will be conducted. First, screening the whole industrial strains collection to find some good strains with high limonene tolerance or high lipid content. Second, engineering several key enzymes in the synthetic pathway for limonene production. Third, engineering limonene synthase in the final step of the pathway.