Production of biodiesel by yeast from lignocellulose and glycerol
AssigneeTechnical University of Denmark
InventorsAmbareesh Govind Phadnavis, Peter Ruhdal Jensen
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Abstract
The invention is directed to a genetically modified microorganism for the extracellular production of free fatty acids and esters thereof, wherein said microorganism is characterized by a modified lipid biosynthesis metabolic pathway: for example reduced fatty acyl-coA synthetase activity that enables the microorganism to overproduce and secrete of esters of fatty acids (Biodiesel) into the surrounding medium, using one or more of: glucose, starch, lignocellulose and a glycerol-based substrate, as a carbon source. The invention further provides a method for the extracellular production of free fatty acids and esters thereof, comprising the use of said genetically modified organism, and a growth medium adapted for said method.
Claims14
A genetically modified microorganism for the extracellular production of free fatty acids and esters thereof, wherein said microorganism characterised by:
- a. reduced fatty acyl-coA synthetase activity conferred by a FAA2 gene deletion;
- b. enhanced acetyl CoA carboxylase expression conferred by a recombinant endogenous ACC1 gene wherein said gene is operably linked to a heterologous promoter;
- and
- c. a transgene encoding a pyruvate formate lyase comprising PflA and PflB,
- wherein said microorganism is selected from among species of Aspergillus nidulans, Candida tropicalis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosacchromyces pombe, and Yarrowia lipolytica.
A genetically engineered yeast or fungal strain characterised by:
- a. reduced fatty acyl-coA synthetase activity conferred by a FAA2 gene deletion;
- b. enhanced acetyl CoA carboxylase expression conferred by a recombinant endogenous ACC1 gene wherein said gene is operably linked to a heterologous promoter, and
- c. a transgene encoding a pyruvate formate lyase comprising PflA and PflB
- wherein said yeast or fungal strain is selected from among species of Aspergillus nidulans, Candida tropicalis, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, Schizosacchromyces pombe, and Yarrowia lipolytica, characterised in that the genetic modification of the yeast or fungal strain results in enhanced production of fatty acids and their esters of shorter chain.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.