Method to increase hydrophobic compound titer in a recombinant microorganism
AssigneeE. I. Du Pont de Nemours and Company
InventorsAnthony J. Kinney, Hao Ni, Pierre E. Rouviere, Wonchul Suh
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Expression of at least one plant oleosin gene in a microbial cell engineered to produce hydrophobic/lipophilic compounds significantly increases the overall titer of the compound. The hydrophobic nature of the oleosin core is believed to increase the microbial host cell's internal storage capacity for any hydrophobic/lipophilic compound. The method is exemplified using a bacterial host cell engineered to produce significant amount of various carotenoids.
Claims14
A recombinant microbial production host for the production of hydrophobic compounds comprising:
- a) an intracellular system comprising heterologous genetic construct for the production of a hydrophobic compound;
- and
- b) at least one genetic construct encoding an oleosin polypeptide having an amino acid sequence comprising an oleosin diagnostic motif, said motif having about 70% identity to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 70;
- wherein the hydrophobic compound is selected from the group consisting of isoprenoids, carotenoids, quinones, dolichols, tocopherols, fatty acids, terpenes, steroids, chlorophylles, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and natural rubber.
A method for the production of a hydrophobic compound comprising:
- (a) providing a recombinant microbial production host comprising:
- i) an intracellular system comprising heterologous genetic construct for the production of a hydrophobic compound;
- and
- ii) at least one genetic construct encoding an oleosin polypeptide having an amino acid sequence comprising an oleosin diagnostic motif, said motif having about 70% identity to the amino acid sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:
- 70;
- and
- (b) growing the production host of (a) under conditions whereby a hydrophobic compound is produced;
- wherein the hydrophobic compound is selected from the group consisting of isoprenoids, carotenoids, quinones, dolichols, tocopherols, fatty acids, terpenes, steroids, chlorophylles, polyhydroxyalkanoates, and natural rubber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.