Engineering transcription factors to improve tolerance against alkane biofuels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Background Biologically produced alkanes can be used as ‘drop in’ to existing transportation infrastructure as alkanes are important components of gasoline and jet fuels. Despite the reported microbial production of alkanes, the toxicity of alkanes to microbial hosts could pose a bottleneck for high productivity. In this study, we aimed to improve the tolerance of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a model eukaryotic host of industrial significance, to alkane biofuels.