Developing fermentative terpenoid production for commercial usage

Abstract

Terpenoids comprise a large (>55000) family of compounds, very few of which have been used commercially due to low and economically unpractical production in their native hosts (generally plants and microorganisms). Two examples of natural terpenoid production are described (rubber and astaxanthin), but the advent of metabolic engineering has allowed the development of fermentative production processes using heterologous microorganisms. The two biochemical pathways responsible for terpenoid production are described, along with manipulations that enable production of terpenoids at economically viable levels. Finally, this article reviews some terpenoids that are currently in commercial production or development, ranging from semisynthetic production of the antimalarial drug artemisinin, through fragrance molecules, to commodity chemicals such as isoprene and β-farnesene.