Engineered Yeast Lysis to Intensify Intracellular Product Recovery 

Members: Manus and University of Texas at Austin

Project dates: 2024 – 2026

Manus and The University of Texas at Austin improved intracellular yeast product recovery by programming lysis of the cell wall. This programmed disruption of the cell wall simplified downstream processing, eliminated the need for dangerous solvents, and reduced the mechanical energy required for recovering lipid products that accumulate inside the cell. 

This project demonstrated a fully integrated pilot-scale bioprocess for yeast lipid production, bringing the technology from BioMRL4 to BioMRL6. 

Advancements from this project can improve product yields and safety, and lower costs and energy requirements to produce bioproducts that accumulate intracellularly, such as lipids, vitamins, pigments, proteins, biosurfactants, and polysaccharides. Programmed cell wall disruption can also enable better use of yeast biomass co-products for animal feed and aquaculture applications, creating additional revenue opportunities for biomanufacturers.

Funding source: U.S. Department of Defense

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