Establishing CRISPR/Cas9 in Lipomyces starkeyi

Authors

  • Zoe Lau WISEST student researcher, University of Alberta
  • David Stuart Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta
  • Bonnie Mcneil Department of Biochemistry, University of Alberta

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/aar61

Keywords:

CRISPR, Lipomyces starkeyi, gene editing, biofuels, Lipomyces sarkeyi biofuels

Abstract

The goal of this project was to adapt the Yarrowia lipolytica plasmid based CRISPR/Cas9 system for usage in Lipomyces starkeyi. Lipomyces starkeyi is an oleaginous yeast, which synthesizes and stores high amounts of intracellular lipids. This specific yeast can store lipids at concentrations higher than 60% of its dry cell weight. Due to these high concentrations of lipids, L. starkeyi is a desired organism for the production of biofuels and other oleochemicals. However, there is a lack of knowledge and of genetic tools when trying to engineer the cells to produce these lipids for our use. The genome editing tool, CRISPR/Cas9 is efficient and simple, therefore desirable for the engineering of L. starkeyi. The goal was achieved by replacing the Y. lipolytica promoter with a L. starkeyi promoter, inserting guide RNA, as well as confirming cas9 protein expression.

Downloads

Published

2019-09-16

Issue

Vol. 2 No. 2 (2019): WISEST special edition

Section

Poster

License

Copyright (c) 2019 Zoe Lau, Bonnie Mcneil, David Stuart

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:

Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.