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US 8,940,508 B2Granted
Enhancement of biomass production by disruption of light energy dissipation pathways
AssigneeExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company
InventorGraham Peers
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The invention provides a method of producing biomass or at least one biomolecule comprising culturing a photosynthetic microorganism that comprises a disrupted Non-Photochemical Quenching (NPQ) process, and isolating biomass or at least one biomolecule from the culture.
Claims17
A method of producing biomass or at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative, the method comprising:
- culturing a cyanobacterium that comprises a disrupted Non-Photochemical Quenching (NPQ) process in a suitable culture medium as an actively mixed culture in a pond or bioreactor that includes at least one active mixing device, wherein the cyanobacterium experiences intermittent light conditions as a result of movement between brighter and darker regions of the pond or bioreactor, and wherein the NPQ process is disrupted by attenuating or eliminating production of at least one carotenoid by disrupting a gene encoding β-carotene hydroxylase (CrtR), disrupting a gene encoding a β-carotene monoketolase (CrtO), and/or disrupting a gene encoding orange carotenoid protein (OCP), and further wherein disruption of the NPQ process does not include attenuating the expression of a light harvesting chlorophyll binding protein, and
- isolating biomass or at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative from the actively mixed culture, wherein the amount of biomass or the amount of at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative produced by the actively mixed culture is at least 20% greater than the amount of biomass or the amount of at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative produced by a control culture, wherein the control culture is identical to the actively mixed culture in all material respects except that the control culture cyanobacterium does not have a disrupted NPQ process.
A method of producing biomass or at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative, the method comprising:
- culturing a cyanobacterium that comprises a disrupted NPQ process in a suitable culture medium as an actively mixed culture in a pond or bioreactor that includes at least one active mixing device, wherein the cyanobacterium experiences intermittent light conditions as a result of movement between brighter and darker regions of the pond or bioreactor, and wherein the NPQ process is disrupted by a means for disrupting production of at least one carotenoid and/or a means for reducing expression of at least one carotenoid binding protein, and further wherein disruption of the NPQ process does not include attenuating the expression of a light harvesting chlorophyll binding protein;
- and
- isolating biomass or at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative from the actively mixed culture, wherein the amount of biomass or the amount of at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative produced by the actively mixed culture is at least 20% greater than the amount of biomass or the amount of at least one free fatty acid or fatty acid derivative produced by a control culture, wherein the control culture is identical to the actively mixed culture in all material respects except that the control culture cyanobacterium does not have a disrupted NPQ process.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.