Elimination of aromatic fusel alcohols as by-products of strains engineered for phenylpropanoid production by 2-oxo-acid decarboxylase replacement.

Engineered strains of the yeast are intensively studied as production platforms for aromatic compounds such as hydroxycinnamic acids, stilbenoids and flavonoids. Heterologous pathways for production of these compounds use l-phenylalanine and/or l-tyrosine, generated by the yeast shikimate pathway, as aromatic precursors. The Ehrlich pathway converts these precursors to aromatic fusel alcohols and acids, which are undesirable by-products of yeast strains engineered for production of high-value aromatic compounds.