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Next‐generation biofuels: a new challenge for yeast
Author(s) -
Petrovič Uroš
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
yeast
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.923
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1097-0061
pISSN - 0749-503X
DOI - 10.1002/yea.3082
Subject(s) - biofuel , fossil fuel , biochemical engineering , aviation biofuel , microbiology and biotechnology , production (economics) , yeast , saccharomyces cerevisiae , biology , natural resource economics , ethanol fuel , bioenergy , engineering , economics , ecology , macroeconomics , genetics
Economic growth depends strongly on the availability and price of fuels. There are various reasons in different parts of the world for efforts to decrease the consumption of fossil fuels, but biofuels are one of the main solutions considered towards achieving this aim globally. As the major bioethanol producer, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has a central position among biofuel‐producing organisms. However, unprecedented challenges for yeast biotechnology lie ahead, as future biofuels will have to be produced on a large scale from sustainable feedstocks that do not interfere with food production, and which are generally not the traditional carbon source for S. cerevisiae . Additionally, the current trend in the development of biofuels is to synthesize molecules that can be used as drop‐in fuels for existing engines. Their properties should therefore be more similar to those of oil‐derived fuels than those of ethanol. Recent developments and challenges lying ahead for cost‐effective production of such designed biofuels, using S. cerevisiae ‐based cell factories, are presented in this review. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.