Ethanol production in microorganisms
AssigneeJoule Unlimited Technologies, Inc.
InventorsBrian D. Green, Nikos Basil Reppas, Dan Eric Robertson
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Abstract
The present disclosure relates to methods and compositions for engineering photoautotrophic organisms to convert carbon dioxide and light into fatty acid esters and other molecules, including biofuels. The molecules are then secreted by the organism into a growth medium.
Claims20
A method for production of ethanol, comprising:
- culturing an engineered photosynthetic microbe in a culture medium in the presence of light and inorganic carbon, wherein the engineered photosynthetic microbe comprises a recombinant pyruvate decarboxylase nucleic acid sequence encoding a pyruvate decarboxylase having EC 4.1.1.1 and a recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence encoding an alcohol dehydrogenase having EC 1.1.1.1 or EC 1.1.1.2, wherein the copy number of at least the alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence in the engineered photosynthetic microbe is greater than the copy number of an alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence in a control engineered photosynthetic microbe comprising a single recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase gene and a single recombinant pyruvate decarboxylase gene regulated together by a single promoter, and wherein the engineered photosynthetic microbe produces ethanol in an amount greater than a non-engineered photosynthetic microbe, when cultured under identical conditions.
An engineered photosynthetic microbe comprising a recombinant pyruvate decarboxylase nucleic acid sequence encoding a pyruvate decarboxylase having EC 4.1.1.1 and a recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence encoding an alcohol dehydrogenase having EC 1.1.1.1 or EC 1.1.1.2, wherein the copy number of at least the alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence in the engineered photosynthetic microbe is greater than the copy number of an alcohol dehydrogenase nucleic acid sequence in a control engineered photosynthetic microbe comprising a single recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase gene and a single recombinant pyruvate decarboxylase gene regulated together by a single promoter, and wherein the engineered photosynthetic microbe produces ethanol in an amount greater than a non-engineered photosynthetic microbe, when cultured under identical conditions.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.