Enabling the synthesis of medium chain alkanes and 1-alkenes in yeast
Journal article, 2017

Microbial synthesis of medium chain aliphatic hydrocarbons, attractive drop-in molecules to gasoline and jet fuels, is a promising way to reduce our reliance on petroleum-based fuels. In this study, we enabled the synthesis of straight chain hydrocarbons (C7–C13) by yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae through engineering fatty acid synthases to control the chain length of fatty acids and introducing heterologous pathways for alkane or 1-alkene synthesis. We carried out enzyme engineering/screening of the fatty aldehyde deformylating oxygenase (ADO), and compartmentalization of the alkane biosynthesis pathway into peroxisomes to improve alkane production. The two-step synthesis of alkanes was found to be inefficient due to the formation of alcohols derived from aldehyde intermediates. Alternatively, the drain of aldehyde intermediates could be circumvented by introducing a one-step decarboxylation of fatty acids to 1-alkenes, which could be synthesized at a level of 3 mg/L, 25-fold higher than that of alkanes produced via aldehydes.

1-Alkenes

Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Medium-chain fatty acids

Alkanes

Author

Zhu Zhiwei

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Yongjin Zhou

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Min-Kyoung Kang

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering

Anastasia Krivoruchko

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Nicolaas Buijs

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Jens B Nielsen

Chalmers, Biology and Biological Engineering, Systems and Synthetic Biology

Metabolic Engineering

1096-7176 (ISSN) 1096-7184 (eISSN)

Vol. 44 NOV 81-88

Driving Forces

Sustainable development

Subject Categories

Industrial Biotechnology

Infrastructure

Chalmers Infrastructure for Mass spectrometry

Roots

Basic sciences

Areas of Advance

Life Science Engineering (2010-2018)

DOI

10.1016/j.ymben.2017.09.007

More information

Created

11/23/2017