The yeast Starmerella bombicola very efficiently produces the secondary metabolites sophorolipids. Their biosynthesis is not-growth associated and highly upregulated in the stationary phase. Despite high industrial and academic interest, the underlying regulation of sophorolipid biosynthesis remains unknown. In this paper, potential regulation of sophorolipid biosynthesis through the telomere positioning effect was investigated, as the SL Read more about New insights on the regulation of sophorolipid biosynthesis in Starmerella bombicola published![…]

Products with an eco-label are often more expensive than regular products. Bio-engineer Sven Dierickx (Ghent University – InBio.be) is determined to change this: he uses yeast from bumblebee honey to make environmentally friendly ánd low-cost detergent. Want to know more? Watch his 3-minute pitch on Science Figured Out!

In 2013 werd het startschot gegeven voor Inbiose, een spin-off van InBio die voortvloeide uit de onderzoekslijn van de HMOs. Nu 6 jaar later zijn ze uitgeroepen tot Ambassadeur van de Oost-Vlaamse Gazellen bij kleine bedrijven! Proficiat Inbiose! Bekijk het interview van prof. Soetaert, CEO en medeoprichter van Inbiose, hier. Geïnteresseerd in wie de prijs Read more about In de kijker: Spin-off Inbiose is Ambassadeur van de Oost-Vlaamse Gazellen![…]

This study evaluates the techno-economic feasibility of sophorolipid (SL) production process that co-utilizes food waste, glucose and oleic acid as substrates. Two variables are considered in terms of (a) Plant construction: Purchasing equipment either from the US or Mainland China and (b) Production: to produce SL crystals or a concentrated SL liquid/syrup. Hence, four scenarios Read more about New article on applying food waste for sophorolipid production[…]

Until now, the production of microbial biosurfactants has been limited to the use of first-generation (food) substrates. Moreover, the results on sophorolipids yield and productivity reported by state-of-the-art fed-batch processes for sophorolipids production remain unsatisfactory and lead to a significantly high cost per kg of the product. With an aim to address these problems, this Read more about Article: “Efficient in-situ separation design for long-term sophorolipids fermentation with high productivity”[…]

Glucolipids (GLs) are glycolipid biosurfactants with promising properties, but up until today these interesting molecules could only be produced using an engineered Starmerella bombicola strain(∆ugtB1::URA3 G9) producing GLs instead of sophorolipids, albeit with a very low average productivity (0.01 g/L.h). In this study, we found that all glycolipid biosynthetic genes and enzymes were downregulated in Read more about New article published on glucolipid synthesis in S. bombicola![…]

Check our newest article in FEMS Yeast Research! In this article, the one-step microbial production of hydroxy fatty acids by S. bombicola was accomplished by the selective blockage of three catabolic pathways through metabolic engineering. Successful production of 17.39 g/l (ω-1) linked hydroxy fatty acids was obtained by the successive blockage of the sophorolipid biosynthesis, the Read more about New article: ‘Production of long-chain hydroxy fatty acids by Starmerella bombicola’[…]

Last week our rock-star LipoActives team joined the biosurfactants congress in Stuttgart – Germany. They return with new inspirations and a lot of motivation for their state-of-the-art sophorolipid research!