The group of Yongjin ZHOU at CAS DICP, in collaboration with Jens NIELSEN at Chalmers University of Technology, has engineered S cerevisiae to produce long-chain .alpha.-alkenes from fatty acids and secrete them into the medium. Key enzymes engineered into the strain were UndB, a membrane-bound decarboxylase from P. fluorescens not dependent on hydrogen peroxide, and a long-chain fatty acid transporter FATP1. Metabolic dynamic regulation was used to balance cell growth and product synthesis, and led to α- alkene production of 35.3 mg/L, of which >80% was secreted.
CAS news release, March 8, 2018