Galacturonic acid utilization in Rhodosporidium toruloides

The goal of this project is to elucidate the genes required for the basidiomycete yeast R. toruloides to efficiently utilize D-galacturonic acid. D-galacturonic acid is a major component of pectin-rich agricultural wastes, and thus an attractive carbon source for sustainable production of novel bioproducts. R. toruloides is emerging as promising host system for production of diverse lipid and isoprenoid derived products. Understanding the basis of D-galacturonic acid catabolism in this species should enable engineering the pathway into heterologous host organisms and/or rational engineering to optimize conversion of D-galacturonic acid for differing products in R. toruloides