DOE PAGES title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of ‘drop-in’ biofuels

Abstract

Advances in retooling microorganisms have enabled bioproduction of ‘drop-in’ biofuels, fuels that are compatible with existing spark-ignition, compression-ignition, and gasturbine engines. As the majority of petroleum consumption in the United States consists of gasoline (47%), diesel fuel and heating oil (21%), and jet fuel (8%), ‘drop-in’ biofuels that replace these petrochemical sources are particularly attractive. In this review, we discuss the application of aldehyde decarbonylases to produce gasoline substitutes from fatty acid products, a recently crystallized reductase that could hydrogenate jet fuel precursors from terpene synthases, and the exquisite control of polyketide synthases to produce biofuels with desired physical properties (e.g., lower freezing points). With our increased understanding of biosynthetic logic of metabolic pathways, we discuss the unique advantages of fatty acid, terpene, and polyketide synthases for the production of bio-based gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [1];  [3]
  1. Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
  2. Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
  3. Joint BioEnergy Inst. (JBEI), Emeryville, CA (United States); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Technical Univ. of Denmark, Horsholm (Denmark)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Biological and Environmental Research (BER)
OSTI Identifier:
1436998
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1398632
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC02-05CH11231
Resource Type:
Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 45; Journal Issue: C; Journal ID: ISSN 0958-1669
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
09 BIOMASS FUELS

Citation Formats

Zargar, Amin, Bailey, Constance B., Haushalter, Robert W., Eiben, Christopher B., Katz, Leonard, and Keasling, Jay D. Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of ‘drop-in’ biofuels. United States: N. p., 2017. Web. doi:10.1016/j.copbio.2017.03.004.
Zargar, Amin, Bailey, Constance B., Haushalter, Robert W., Eiben, Christopher B., Katz, Leonard, & Keasling, Jay D. Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of ‘drop-in’ biofuels. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.03.004
Zargar, Amin, Bailey, Constance B., Haushalter, Robert W., Eiben, Christopher B., Katz, Leonard, and Keasling, Jay D. Mon . "Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of ‘drop-in’ biofuels". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copbio.2017.03.004. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1436998.
@article{osti_1436998,
title = {Leveraging microbial biosynthetic pathways for the generation of ‘drop-in’ biofuels},
author = {Zargar, Amin and Bailey, Constance B. and Haushalter, Robert W. and Eiben, Christopher B. and Katz, Leonard and Keasling, Jay D.},
abstractNote = {Advances in retooling microorganisms have enabled bioproduction of ‘drop-in’ biofuels, fuels that are compatible with existing spark-ignition, compression-ignition, and gasturbine engines. As the majority of petroleum consumption in the United States consists of gasoline (47%), diesel fuel and heating oil (21%), and jet fuel (8%), ‘drop-in’ biofuels that replace these petrochemical sources are particularly attractive. In this review, we discuss the application of aldehyde decarbonylases to produce gasoline substitutes from fatty acid products, a recently crystallized reductase that could hydrogenate jet fuel precursors from terpene synthases, and the exquisite control of polyketide synthases to produce biofuels with desired physical properties (e.g., lower freezing points). With our increased understanding of biosynthetic logic of metabolic pathways, we discuss the unique advantages of fatty acid, terpene, and polyketide synthases for the production of bio-based gasoline, diesel and jet fuel.},
doi = {10.1016/j.copbio.2017.03.004},
journal = {Current Opinion in Biotechnology},
number = C,
volume = 45,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2017},
month = {Mon Apr 17 00:00:00 EDT 2017}
}

Journal Article:

Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 45 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

Save / Share:

Works referenced in this record:

Fuelling the future: microbial engineering for the production of sustainable biofuels
journal, March 2016

  • Liao, James C.; Mi, Luo; Pontrelli, Sammy
  • Nature Reviews Microbiology, Vol. 14, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1038/nrmicro.2016.32

Synthetic biology for microbial production of lipid-based biofuels
journal, December 2015


Frontiers in microbial 1-butanol and isobutanol production
journal, January 2016

  • Chen, Chang-Ting; Liao, James C.
  • FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 363, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1093/femsle/fnw020

Microbial production of fatty-acid-derived fuels and chemicals from plant biomass
journal, January 2010

  • Steen, Eric J.; Kang, Yisheng; Bokinsky, Gregory
  • Nature, Vol. 463, Issue 7280, p. 559-562
  • DOI: 10.1038/nature08721

Modular Synthase-Encoding Gene Involved in α-Olefin Biosynthesis in Synechococcus sp. Strain PCC 7002
journal, April 2011

  • Mendez-Perez, Daniel; Begemann, Matthew B.; Pfleger, Brian F.
  • Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 77, Issue 12, p. 4264-4267
  • DOI: 10.1128/AEM.00467-11

Microbial Biosynthesis of Alkanes
journal, July 2010


Expanding the Product Profile of a Microbial Alkane Biosynthetic Pathway
journal, September 2012

  • Harger, Matthew; Zheng, Lei; Moon, Austin
  • ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 2, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1021/sb300061x

Partitioning of aromatic constituents into water from gasoline and other complex solvent mixtures
journal, May 1991

  • Cline, Patricia V.; Delfino, Joseph J.; Rao, P. Suresh C.
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 25, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1021/es00017a013

Kinetic modeling of free fatty acid production in Escherichia coli based on continuous cultivation of a plasmid free strain
journal, January 2012

  • Youngquist, J. Tyler; Lennen, Rebecca M.; Ranatunga, Don R.
  • Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 109, Issue 6, p. 1518-1527
  • DOI: 10.1002/bit.24420

Quantitative analysis and engineering of fatty acid biosynthesis in E. coli
journal, July 2010


Microbial production of short-chain alkanes
journal, September 2013


Synthesis of customized petroleum-replica fuel molecules by targeted modification of free fatty acid pools in Escherichia coli
journal, April 2013

  • Howard, T. P.; Middelhaufe, S.; Moore, K.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 19
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215966110

Engineering acyl carrier protein to enhance production of shortened fatty acids
journal, February 2016

  • Liu, Xueliang; Hicks, Wade M.; Silver, Pamela A.
  • Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 9, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/s13068-016-0430-4

Carboxylic acid reductase is a versatile enzyme for the conversion of fatty acids into fuels and chemical commodities
journal, December 2012

  • Akhtar, M. K.; Turner, N. J.; Jones, P. R.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 1, p. 87-92
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1216516110

An engineered pathway for the biosynthesis of renewable propane
journal, September 2014

  • Kallio, Pauli; Pásztor, András; Thiel, Kati
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 5, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms5731

Production of extracellular fatty acid using engineered Escherichia coli
journal, January 2012


Modular optimization of multi-gene pathways for fatty acids production in E. coli
journal, January 2013

  • Xu, Peng; Gu, Qin; Wang, Wenya
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms2425

Development of an orthogonal fatty acid biosynthesis system in E. coli for oleochemical production
journal, July 2015


Toward aldehyde and alkane production by removing aldehyde reductase activity in Escherichia coli
journal, September 2014


Modular and selective biosynthesis of gasoline-range alkanes
journal, January 2016


Heterologous biosynthesis and manipulation of alkanes in Escherichia coli
journal, November 2016


Evidence for Only Oxygenative Cleavage of Aldehydes to Alk(a/e)nes and Formate by Cyanobacterial Aldehyde Decarbonylases
journal, September 2012

  • Li, Ning; Chang, Wei-chen; Warui, Douglas M.
  • Biochemistry, Vol. 51, Issue 40
  • DOI: 10.1021/bi300912n

Engineering a mevalonate pathway in Escherichia coli for production of terpenoids
journal, June 2003

  • Martin, Vincent J. J.; Pitera, Douglas J.; Withers, Sydnor T.
  • Nature Biotechnology, Vol. 21, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1038/nbt833

Balancing a heterologous mevalonate pathway for improved isoprenoid production in Escherichia coli
journal, March 2007


Influence on the performance and emissions of an automotive Euro 5 diesel engine fueled with F30 from Farnesane
journal, December 2014


Identification and microbial production of a terpene-based advanced biofuel
journal, September 2011

  • Peralta-Yahya, Pamela P.; Ouellet, Mario; Chan, Rossana
  • Nature Communications, Vol. 2, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1494

Carotenoid-based phenotypic screen of the yeast deletion collection reveals new genes with roles in isoprenoid production
journal, January 2013


Engineering Terpene Biosynthesis in Streptomyces for Production of the Advanced Biofuel Precursor Bisabolene
journal, July 2014

  • Phelan, Ryan M.; Sekurova, Olga N.; Keasling, Jay D.
  • ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 4, Issue 4
  • DOI: 10.1021/sb5002517

Production of farnesene and santalene by Saccharomyces cerevisiae using fed-batch cultivations with RQ -controlled feed : Production of Farnesene and Santalene
journal, September 2015

  • Tippmann, Stefan; Scalcinati, Gionata; Siewers, Verena
  • Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 113, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1002/bit.25683

In vitro reconstitution of mevalonate pathway and targeted engineering of farnesene overproduction in Escherichia coli : In Vitro Reconstitution of Mevalonate Pathway
journal, February 2014

  • Zhu, Fayin; Zhong, Xiaofang; Hu, Mengzhu
  • Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 111, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1002/bit.25198

High-Density Renewable Fuels Based on the Selective Dimerization of Pinenes
journal, January 2010

  • Harvey, Benjamin G.; Wright, Michael E.; Quintana, Roxanne L.
  • Energy & Fuels, Vol. 24, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1021/ef900799c

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for the biosynthesis of alpha-pinene
journal, January 2013

  • Yang, Jianming; Nie, Qingjuan; Ren, Meng
  • Biotechnology for Biofuels, Vol. 6, Issue 1
  • DOI: 10.1186/1754-6834-6-60

Microbial Synthesis of Pinene
journal, November 2013

  • Sarria, Stephen; Wong, Betty; Martín, Hector García
  • ACS Synthetic Biology, Vol. 3, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1021/sb4001382

Metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli for limonene and perillyl alcohol production
journal, September 2013


Acute Limonene Toxicity in Escherichia coli Is Caused by Limonene Hydroperoxide and Alleviated by a Point Mutation in Alkyl Hydroperoxidase AhpC
journal, May 2015

  • Chubukov, Victor; Mingardon, Florence; Schackwitz, Wendy
  • Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 81, Issue 14
  • DOI: 10.1128/AEM.01102-15

Alleviating monoterpene toxicity using a two-phase extractive fermentation for the bioproduction of jet fuel mixtures in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
journal, May 2012

  • Brennan, Timothy C. R.; Turner, Christopher D.; Krömer, Jens O.
  • Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Vol. 109, Issue 10
  • DOI: 10.1002/bit.24536

Constructing Tailored Isoprenoid Products by Structure-Guided Modification of Geranylgeranyl Reductase
journal, July 2014


Erythromycin Biosynthesis:  Kinetic Studies on a Fully Active Modular Polyketide Synthase Using Natural and Unnatural Substrates
journal, January 1996

  • Pieper, Rembert; Ebert-Khosla, Susanne; Cane, David
  • Biochemistry, Vol. 35, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1021/bi952860b

The type I fatty acid and polyketide synthases: a tale of two megasynthases
journal, January 2007

  • Smith, Stuart; Tsai, Shiou-Chuan
  • Natural Product Reports, Vol. 24, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1039/b603600g

Elucidation of the Cryptic Epimerase Activity of Redox-Inactive Ketoreductase Domains from Modular Polyketide Synthases by Tandem Equilibrium Isotope Exchange
journal, July 2014

  • Garg, Ashish; Xie, Xinqiang; Keatinge-Clay, Adrian
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 136, Issue 29
  • DOI: 10.1021/ja5056998

Expanding the chemical diversity of natural esters by engineering a polyketide-derived pathway into Escherichia coli
journal, July 2014


Engineering a Polyketide Synthase for In Vitro Production of Adipic Acid
journal, November 2015


Engineering the acyltransferase substrate specificity of assembly line polyketide synthases
journal, August 2013

  • Dunn, Briana J.; Khosla, Chaitan
  • Journal of The Royal Society Interface, Vol. 10, Issue 85
  • DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2013.0297

Divergent Mechanistic Routes for the Formation of gem -Dimethyl Groups in the Biosynthesis of Complex Polyketides
journal, January 2015

  • Poust, Sean; Phelan, Ryan M.; Deng, Kai
  • Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Vol. 54, Issue 8
  • DOI: 10.1002/anie.201410124

α-Methylation follows condensation in the gephyronic acid modular polyketide synthase
journal, January 2016

  • Wagner, Drew T.; Stevens, D. Cole; Mehaffey, M. Rachel
  • Chemical Communications, Vol. 52, Issue 57
  • DOI: 10.1039/C6CC04418B

Methyltransferases excised from trans-AT polyketide synthases operate on N-acetylcysteamine-bound substrates
journal, June 2016

  • Stevens, D. Cole; Wagner, Drew T.; Manion, Hannah R.
  • The Journal of Antibiotics, Vol. 69, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1038/ja.2016.66

Influence on the performance and emissions of an automotive Euro 5 diesel engine fueled with F30 from Farnesane
journal, December 2014


Constructing Tailored Isoprenoid Products by Structure-Guided Modification of Geranylgeranyl Reductase
journal, July 2014


Modular and selective biosynthesis of gasoline-range alkanes
journal, January 2016


Partitioning of aromatic constituents into water from gasoline and other complex solvent mixtures
journal, May 1991

  • Cline, Patricia V.; Delfino, Joseph J.; Rao, P. Suresh C.
  • Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 25, Issue 5
  • DOI: 10.1021/es00017a013

Elucidation of the Cryptic Epimerase Activity of Redox-Inactive Ketoreductase Domains from Modular Polyketide Synthases by Tandem Equilibrium Isotope Exchange
journal, July 2014

  • Garg, Ashish; Xie, Xinqiang; Keatinge-Clay, Adrian
  • Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. 136, Issue 29
  • DOI: 10.1021/ja5056998

Methyltransferases excised from trans-AT polyketide synthases operate on N-acetylcysteamine-bound substrates
journal, June 2016

  • Stevens, D. Cole; Wagner, Drew T.; Manion, Hannah R.
  • The Journal of Antibiotics, Vol. 69, Issue 7
  • DOI: 10.1038/ja.2016.66

Synthesis of customized petroleum-replica fuel molecules by targeted modification of free fatty acid pools in Escherichia coli
journal, April 2013

  • Howard, T. P.; Middelhaufe, S.; Moore, K.
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 110, Issue 19
  • DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1215966110

Land Clearing and the Biofuel Carbon Debt
journal, February 2008


Microbial Biosynthesis of Alkanes
journal, July 2010


Works referencing / citing this record:

Technical Advances to Accelerate Modular Type I Polyketide Synthase Engineering towards a Retro-biosynthetic Platform
journal, June 2019

  • Pang, Bo; Valencia, Luis E.; Wang, Jessica
  • Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering, Vol. 24, Issue 3
  • DOI: 10.1007/s12257-019-0083-9

History, Current State, and Emerging Applications of Industrial Biotechnology
book, January 2019

  • Schürrle, Karsten
  • Sustainability and Life Cycle Assessment in Industrial Biotechnology
  • DOI: 10.1007/10_2018_81

Stepwise metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli to produce triacylglycerol rich in medium-chain fatty acids
journal, June 2018


Conserved principles of transcriptional networks controlling metabolic flexibility in archaea
journal, December 2018


Modular pathway engineering for the microbial production of branched-chain fatty alcohols
journal, October 2017


Principles and practice of designing microbial biocatalysts for fuel and chemical production
journal, March 2021

  • Shanmugam, K. T.; Ingram, Lonnie O.
  • Journal of Industrial Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol. 49, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1093/jimb/kuab016

Isolation and Characterization of Bacterial Cellulase Producers for Biomass Deconstruction: A Microbiology Laboratory Course
journal, January 2019

  • Barajas, Jesus F.; Wehrs, Maren; To, Milton
  • Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol. 20, Issue 2
  • DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.v20i2.1723

Modular pathway engineering for the microbial production of branched-chain fatty alcohols
journal, October 2017


Stepwise metabolic engineering of Escherichia coli to produce triacylglycerol rich in medium-chain fatty acids
journal, June 2018