TY - JOUR
T1 - Fatty acid production in genetically modified cyanobacteria
AU - Liu, Xinyao
AU - Sheng, Jie
AU - Curtiss, Roy
PY - 2011/4/26
Y1 - 2011/4/26
N2 - To avoid costly biomass recovery in photosynthetic microbial biofuel production, we genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce and secrete fatty acids. Starting with introducing an acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase gene, we made six successive generations of genetic modifications of cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 wild type (SD100). The fatty acid secretion yield was increased to 197 ± 14 mg/L of culture in one improved strain at a cell density of 1.0 x 109 cells/mL by adding codon-optimized thioesterase genes and weakening polar cell wall layers. Although these strains exhibited damaged cell membranes at low cell densities, they grew more rapidly at high cell densities in late exponential and stationary phase and exhibited less cell damage than cells in wild-type cultures. Our results suggest that fatty acid secreting cyanobacteria are a promising technology for renewable biofuel production.
AB - To avoid costly biomass recovery in photosynthetic microbial biofuel production, we genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce and secrete fatty acids. Starting with introducing an acyl-acyl carrier protein thioesterase gene, we made six successive generations of genetic modifications of cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC6803 wild type (SD100). The fatty acid secretion yield was increased to 197 ± 14 mg/L of culture in one improved strain at a cell density of 1.0 x 109 cells/mL by adding codon-optimized thioesterase genes and weakening polar cell wall layers. Although these strains exhibited damaged cell membranes at low cell densities, they grew more rapidly at high cell densities in late exponential and stationary phase and exhibited less cell damage than cells in wild-type cultures. Our results suggest that fatty acid secreting cyanobacteria are a promising technology for renewable biofuel production.
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U2 - 10.1073/pnas.1103014108
DO - 10.1073/pnas.1103014108
M3 - Article
C2 - 21482809
AN - SCOPUS:79955565417
SN - 0027-8424
VL - 108
SP - 6899
EP - 6904
JO - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
JF - Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
IS - 17
ER -