Lipid Pathway Modification in Oil-Bearing Microorganisms
First Claim
1. A microalgae or yeast cell that has been genetically engineered and/or selected to express a lipid pathway enzyme at an altered level compared to a wild-type cell of the same species.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The invention provides methods of modifying the lipids produced by microbial organisms through genetic engineering. The invention also provides genetically engineered microbes and methods of fermenting microbes for oil production. Also provided are oils, fuels, oleochemicals, chemical precursors, and other compounds manufactured by such modified microorganisms. Exemplary oil-bearing organisms include organisms containing one or more exogenous genes encoding a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase, fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase, fatty acyl-CoA reductase, fatty aldehyde reductase, fatty aldehyde decarbonylase, and/or an acyl carrier protein.
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Citations
150 Claims
- 1. A microalgae or yeast cell that has been genetically engineered and/or selected to express a lipid pathway enzyme at an altered level compared to a wild-type cell of the same species.
- 13. An oil-producing microbe containing one or more exogenous genes, wherein the exogenous genes encode protein(s) selected from the group consisting of a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase, a fatty acyl-CoA reductase, a fatty aldehyde reductase, a fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase, a fatty aldehyde decarbonylase, and an acyl carrier protein.
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40-62. -62. (canceled)
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63. A method of producing a molecule in a microbe population, the method comprising culturing a population of microbes in a culture medium, wherein the microbes contain:
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(i) a first exogenous gene encoding a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase, and (ii) a second exogenous gene encoding a fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase; and wherein the microbes synthesize a fatty acid linked to an acyl carrier protein (ACP), the fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase catalyzes the cleavage of the fatty acid from the ACP to yield, through further processing, a fatty acyl-CoA, and the fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase catalyzes the reduction of the acyl-CoA to an alcohol. - View Dependent Claims (64, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86)
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87-135. -135. (canceled)
- 136. A microalgae cell containing an exogenous gene, wherein the exogenous gene encodes a protein selected from the group consisting of a lipase, a sucrose transporter, a sucrose invertase, a fructokinase, or a polysaccharide-degrading enzyme.
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146-147. -147. (canceled)
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150-162. -162. (canceled)
Specification