mgr Dominik Wojdyła

ORCID: 0000-0003-0557-3476

The topic of my dissertation is: „Metabolic engineering of Candida famata strains to enhance riboflavin production from conventional and waste-derived substrates.”

Riboflavin (vitamin B₂) is an essential cofactor required for cellular metabolism and industrially relevant as a nutritional additive in food, pharmaceutical and feed sectors. Growing demand for sustainable bioprocesses highlights the importance of developing microbial platforms capable of converting low-cost renewable resources into high-value products. The flavinogenic yeast Candida famata represents a promising alternative to traditional production systems, particularly due to its natural ability to synthesize riboflavin. However, its efficiency on industrial waste-based media, such as lignocellulosic hydrolysates rich in pentoses and dairy whey containing lactose, remains suboptimal due to transport limitations, metabolic barriers and sensitivity to toxic inhibitors.

My research focuses on designing advanced C. famata strains that can efficiently convert conventional sugars and waste substrates into riboflavin. The approach integrates rational metabolic engineering, overexpression of key genes related to sugar transport and flavin biosynthesis, adaptive laboratory evolution to improve inhibitor tolerance, and transcriptomic analysis (RNA-Seq) to uncover regulatory mechanisms underlying enhanced phenotypes. Additionally, bioreactor optimization ensures that developed strains are evaluated under industrially relevant conditions.

This work contributes to the development of environmentally friendly biotechnological processes by valorizing agro-industrial by-products and advancing non-conventional yeast as robust microbial cell factories for vitamin production.

Publication:

  1. Sibirny AA. Metabolic engineering of non-conventional yeasts for construction of the advanced producers of biofuels and high-value chemicals. BBA Adv. 2022 Dec 22;3:100071. doi: 10.1016/j.bbadva.2022.100071.
  2. Ujor VC, Okonkwo CC. Microbial detoxification of lignocellulosic biomass hydrolysates: Biochemical and molecular aspects, challenges, exploits and future perspectives. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2022 Nov 22;10:1061667. doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2022.
  3. Dzanaeva LS, Wojdyła D, Fedorovych DV, Ruchala J, Dmytruk KV, Sibirny AA. Riboflavin overproduction on lignocellulose hydrolysate by the engineered yeast Candida famata. FEMS Yeast Res. 2024 Jan 9;24:foae020. doi: 10.1093/femsyr/foae020.
  4. Ruchala J, Andreieva YA, Tsyrulnyk AO, Sobchuk SM, Najdecka A, Wen L, Kang Y, Dmytruk OV, Dmytruk KV, Fedorovych DV, Sibirny AA. Cheese whey supports high riboflavin synthesis by the engineered strains of the flavinogenic yeast Candida famata. Microb Cell Fact. 2022 Aug 13;21(1):161. doi: 10.1186/s12934-022-01888-0