Data for "Metabolic Engineering Strategies to Produce Medium-Chain Oleochemicals via Acyl-ACP:CoA Transacylase Activity"

Dataset · Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 EST 2026

DOI:https://doi.org/10.13012/B2IDB-4936526_V1· OSTI ID:3013397

Yan, Qiang; Cordell, William; Jindra, Michael; Pfleger, Brian

Microbial lipid metabolism is an attractive route for producing oleochemicals. The predominant strategy centers on heterologous thioesterases to synthesize desired chain-length fatty acids. To convert acids to oleochemicals (e.g., fatty alcohols, ketones), the narrowed fatty acid pool needs to be reactivated as coenzyme A thioesters at cost of one ATP per reactivation – an expense that could be saved if the acyl-chain was directly transferred from ACP- to CoA-thioester. Here, we demonstrate such an alternative acyl-transferase strategy by heterologous expression of PhaG, an enzyme first identified in Pseudomonads, that transfers 3-hydroxy acyl-chains between acyl-carrier protein and coenzyme A thioester forms for creating polyhydroxyalkanoate monomers. We use it to create a pool of acyl-CoA’s that can be redirected to oleochemical products. Through bioprospecting, mutagenesis, and metabolic engineering, we develop three strains of Escherichia coli capable of producing over 1 g/L of medium-chain free fatty acids, fatty alcohols, and methyl ketones.

• Research Organization: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• Sponsoring Organization: U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)
• DOE Contract Number: SC0018420
• OSTI ID: 3013397
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Bioproducts
Metabolomics