Synthesis of high-titer alka(e)nes in Yarrowia lipolytica is enabled by a discovered mechanism
Name
s41467-020-19995-0.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
1.21 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
106cdced90e5e5882913b276f4c8bafd
Author(s)
Li, Jingbo
Ma, Yongshuo
Liu, Nian
Eser, Bekir E
Guo, Zheng
Jensen, Peter Ruhdal
Stephanopoulos, Gregory
Date Issued
2020
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Version
Final published version
Abstract
© 2020, The Author(s). Alka(e)nes are ideal fuel components for aviation, long-distance transport, and shipping. They are typically derived from fossil fuels and accounting for 24% of difficult-to-eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. The synthesis of alka(e)nes in Yarrowia lipolytica from CO2-neutral feedstocks represents an attractive alternative. Here we report that the high-titer synthesis of alka(e)nes in Yarrowia lipolytica harboring a fatty acid photodecarboxylase (CvFAP) is enabled by a discovered pathway. We find that acyl-CoAs, rather than free fatty acids (FFAs), are the preferred substrate for CvFAP. This finding allows us to debottleneck the pathway and optimize fermentation conditions so that we are able to redirect 89% of acyl-CoAs from the synthesis of neutral lipids to alka(e)nes and reach titers of 1.47 g/L from glucose. Two other CO2-derived substrates, wheat straw and acetate, are also demonstrated to be effective in producing alka(e)nes. Overall, our technology could advance net-zero emissions by providing CO2-neutral and energy-dense liquid biofuels.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
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DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-19995-0
