title: Fatty acid ethyl esters production in aqueous phase by the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides.
abstract: Fatty acid ethyl esters (FAEEs) are attractive biofuel molecules. Conventional FAEEs production process uses triglycerides and ethanol as feedstocks and is sensitive to water contents. In this work, we show that the oleaginous yeast Rhodosporidium toruloides cells are capable of converting lipids into FAEEs intracellularly in aqueous phase. Up to 73% of cellular neutral glycerides could be converted into FAEEs when lipid-rich cells were incubated for 84 h at 35°C, pH 6.0 in a broth containing 10 vol% ethanol. It was found that neutral glycerides were first hydrolyzed to free fatty acids followed by esterification and that lipid droplets played important roles in the process. This new process provides a novel opportunity for integration of microbial lipid production technology with bioethanol fermentation for more efficient production of drop-in biofuels from renewable resources.
authors.affiliation: Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, CAS, 457 Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, PR China; University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, PR China.
authors.forename: Guojie
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jin
authors.forename: Yixin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Hongwei
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Xiaobing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Zongbao K
authors.initials: ZK
authors.lastname: Zhao
mesh_terms: D001487:Basidiomycota / Q000378:metabolism*; D004952:Esters / Q000378:metabolism*; D000431:Ethanol / Q000378:metabolism; D005227:Fatty Acids / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D005285:Fermentation; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D004952:Esters; D005227:Fatty Acids; D000431:Ethanol
keywords: Aqueous phase conversion; Biodiesel; Fatty acid ethyl esters; Lipid droplets; Rhodosporidium toruloides