Metabolic engineering of microorganisms for the production of fatty acid-derived biofuels.

Abstract

The intensifying climate crisis necessitates a global transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. To meet this demand, metabolic engineering has become a pivotal strategy for developing microorganisms as efficient cell factories capable of producing fuels and fuel precursors. Among the biofuel platforms, fatty acid-based fuels are particularly promising, offering energy densities comparable to those of petroleum-based fuels. Recent advances in systems metabolic engineering, including metabolic pathway optimization, cofactor balancing, and dynamic regulation, have significantly improved the microbial production of key fuels and intermediates such as alka(e)nes, and fatty acid esters. In this review, we discuss recent progress in metabolic engineering strategies for microbial production of representative fatty acid-based fuels, highlighting current technological challenges and future directions.

Key findings

• ▸Fatty acid-based biofuels offer energy densities comparable to petroleum-based fuels, making them a promising renewable alternative.
• ▸Systems metabolic engineering approaches, such as cofactor balancing and dynamic regulation, have significantly improved microbial production efficiency.
• ▸Key intermediates like alkanes and fatty acid esters are now being produced more effectively through optimized metabolic pathways.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.1016/j.copbio.2026.103472

PubMed

41775002

Journal

Current opinion in biotechnology

Year

2026