Production of high titer of citric acid from inulin

BACKGROUND: Citric acid is considered as the most economically feasible product of microbiological production, therefore studies on cheap and renewable raw materials for its production are highly desirable. In this study citric acid was synthesized by genetically engineered strains of Yarrowia lipolytica from widely available, renewable polysaccharide – inulin. Hydrolysis of inulin by the Y. lipolytica strains was established by expressing the inulinase gene (INU1 gene; GenBank: X57202.1) with its native secretion signal sequence was amplified from genomic DNA from Kluyveromyces marxianus CBS6432. To ensure the maximum citric acid titer, the optimal cultivation strategy–repeated-batch culture was applied. RESULTS: The strain Y. lipolytica AWG7 INU 8 secreted more than 200 g dm(− 3) of citric acid during repeated-batch culture on inulin, with a productivity of 0.51 g dm(− 3) h(− 1) and a yield of 0.85 g g(− 1). CONCLUSIONS: The citric acid titer obtained in the proposed process is the highest value reported in the literature for Yarrowia yeast. The obtained results suggest that citric acid production from inulin by engineered Y. lipolytica may be a very promising technology for industrial citric acid production.