Itaconic acid - A biotechnological process in change

In the last years, itaconic acid has gained increasing interest as future bio-based platform chemical. To replace petrol-based compounds such as methacrylic acid in industry, the economic efficiency of the current biotechnological production processes with the fungus Aspergillus terreus has to be improved. The recent progress in understanding the biosynthesis, the regulation and the cellular transport of itaconic acid has facilitated the optimisation of existing processes as well as the construction of new microbial platforms. However, there is still need for further optimisation to increase the space-time yield, to achieve higher final concentrations and to use a broader range of low cost sustainable raw materials. Genetic engineering and process development need to apply intelligent screening platforms to obtain as much information as possible in small scale. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.