Journal ArticleDOI
Microbial Biosynthesis of Alkanes
TLDR
The discovery of an alkane biosynthesis pathway in cyanobacteria that converts intermediates of fatty acid metabolism to alkanes and alkenes is described and is likely to be a valuable tool in the production of biofuels.Abstract:
Alkanes, the major constituents of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, are naturally produced by diverse species; however, the genetics and biochemistry behind this biology have remained elusive. Here we describe the discovery of an alkane biosynthesis pathway from cyanobacteria. The pathway consists of an acyl-acyl carrier protein reductase and an aldehyde decarbonylase, which together convert intermediates of fatty acid metabolism to alkanes and alkenes. The aldehyde decarbonylase is related to the broadly functional nonheme diiron enzymes. Heterologous expression of the alkane operon in Escherichia coli leads to the production and secretion of C13 to C17 mixtures of alkanes and alkenes. These genes and enzymes can now be leveraged for the simple and direct conversion of renewable raw materials to fungible hydrocarbon fuels.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Microbial engineering for the production of advanced biofuels
Pamela Peralta-Yahya,Pamela Peralta-Yahya,Fuzhong Zhang,Fuzhong Zhang,Stephen B. del Cardayre,Jay D. Keasling +5 more
TL;DR: Data-driven and synthetic-biology approaches can be used to optimize both the host and pathways to maximize fuel production, and to compete with more conventional fuels.
Journal ArticleDOI
Catalytic routes for the conversion of biomass into liquid hydrocarbon transportation fuels
TL;DR: In this article, the main routes available to carry out such deep chemical transformation (e.g., gasification, pyrolysis, and aqueous-phase catalytic processing) are described.
Journal ArticleDOI
Manufacturing molecules through metabolic engineering.
TL;DR: Whereas existing production routes use well-known, safe, industrial microorganisms, future production schemes may include designer cells that are tailor-made for the desired chemical and production process.
Journal ArticleDOI
Waste to bioproduct conversion with undefined mixed cultures: the carboxylate platform
TL;DR: To develop the carboxylate platform into an important system within biorefineries, it must understand the kinetic and thermodynamic possibilities of anaerobic pathways, understand the ecological principles underlying pathway alternatives, and develop superior separation technologies.
Journal ArticleDOI
An Engineered Microbial Platform for Direct Biofuel Production from Brown Macroalgae
Adam J. Wargacki,Effendi Leonard,Maung Nyan Win,Drew D. Regitsky,Christine Nicole S. Santos,Peter B Kim,Susan Rudd Cooper,Ryan M. Raisner,Asael Herman,Alicia B. Sivitz,Arun Lakshmanaswamy,Yuki Kashiyama,David Baker,Yasuo Yoshikuni +13 more
TL;DR: A 36–kilo–base pair DNA fragment from Vibrio splendidus encoding enzymes for alginate transport and metabolism is presented, and a genomic integration of this ensemble generated a microbial platform that can simultaneously degrade, uptake, and metabolizeAlginate.
References
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TL;DR: The isolation of the CER1 gene, which encodes a novel protein involved in the conversion of long chain aldehydes to alkanes, a key step in was biosynthesis, is described.