Synthetic Biology of Yeasts (eBook)

This book covers recent advances and future trends in yeast synthetic biology, providing readers with an overview of computational and engineering tools, and giving insight on important applications. Yeasts are one of the most attractive microbial cell factories for the production of a wide range of valuable products, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cosmetics, agrochemicals and biofuels. Synthetic biology tools have been developed to improve the metabolic engineering of yeasts in a faster and more reliable manner. Today, these tools are used to make synthetic pathways and rewiring metabolism even more efficient, producing products at high titer, rate, and yield.

Split into two parts, the book opens with an introduction to rational metabolic pathway prediction and design using computational tools and their applications for yeast systems and synthetic biology. Then, it focuses on the construction and assembly of standardized biobricks for synthetic pathway engineering in yeasts, yeast cell engineering and whole cell yeast-based biosensors. The second part covers applications of synthetic biology to produce diverse and attractive products by some well-known yeasts.

Given its interdisciplinary scope, the book offers a valuable asset for students, researchers and engineers working in biotechnology, applied microbiology, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology.

Farshad Darvishi Harzevili is a faculty member of Alzahra University and University of Maragheh, Iran and head of the microbial biotechnology and bioprocess engineering (MBBE) group. He is mainly interested in the biotechnological and environmental applications of yeasts to the production of biotechnologically valuable products. He is also interested in the expression of heterologous proteins, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology of yeasts. Professor Darvishi's research group is active in the following areas: 1) New and powerful methods for strain characterization (X-Omics such as genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, lipidomics, fluxomics) and improvement (such as metabolic engineering, reverse metabolic engineering, adaptive laboratory evolution (ALE), systems biology, synthetic biology). 2) Heterologous protein expression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Yarrowia lipolytica, Pichia pastoris and other nonconventional yeasts. 3) Production of biotechnologically valuable products from renewable sources and wastes. 4) Isolation and biodiversity study of yeasts.