Recombinant microorganisms that make biodiesel

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9347076-B2
Application number	US-201313923352-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 20, 2013
Priority date	Jun 21, 2012
Publication date	May 24, 2016
Grant date	May 24, 2016

Abstract

A carboxydotrophic acetogenic recombinant microorganism is modified so that it produces biodiesel and optionally one or more other products by fermentation of a substrate comprising CO. Biodiesel is produced by microbial fermentation of a substrate comprising CO. The recombinant microorganism is modified to express one or more exogenous enzymes in the biodiesel biosynthesis pathway not present in a parental microorganism from which the recombinant microorganism is derived. The one or more enzymes comprise a nonspecific acyltransferase.

First claim

We claim:

1. A genetically engineered carboxydotrophic acetogenic bacterium comprising an exogenous nucleic acid encoding an unspecific acetyltransferase comprising SEQ ID NO: 18.

2. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium is a member of the genus Clostridium.

3. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the unspecific acyltransferase is derived from Acinetobacter baylyi.

4. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium is derived from Clostridium autoethanogenum.

5. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium is derived from Clostridium ljungdahlii.

6. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium is derived from Clostridium autoethanogenum, Clostridium ljungdahlii, Clostridium ragsdalei, Clostridium carboxidivorans, Clostridium drakei, Clostridium scatologenes, Clostridium aceticum, Clostridium formicoaceticum, Clostridium magnum, Butyribacterium methylotrophicum, Acetobacterium woodii, Alkalibaculum bacchii, Blautia producta, Eubacterium limosum, Moorella thermoacetica, Moorella thermautotrophica, Sporomusa ovata, Sporomusa silvacetica, Sporomusa sphaeroides, Oxobacter pfennigii , or Thermoanaerobacter kiuvi.

7. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium produces biodiesel.

8. The bacterium of claim 7 , wherein the biodiesel comprises fatty acid ethyl esters.

9. The bacterium of claim 1 , wherein the bacterium converts a gaseous substrate comprising CO and/or CO 2 into biodiesel.

10. The bacterium of claim 7 , wherein the biodiesel comprises fatty acid butyl esters.

11. The bacterium of claim 9 , wherein the gaseous substrate comprises an industrial off or waste gas.

12. The bacterium of claim 9 , wherein the gaseous substrate comprises syngas.

Assignees

• Lanzatech New Zealand Ltd

Inventors

• Liew Fungmin
• Koepke Michael

Classifications

• Y02P20/52

  using catalysts, e.g. selective catalysts · CPC title

• C12Y203/01075

  Long-chain-alcohol O-fatty-acyltransferase (2.3.1.75) · CPC title

• C12Y203/0102

  Diacylglycerol O-acyltransferase (2.3.1.20) · CPC title

• C10L1/026

  for compression ignition · CPC title

• C12N9/1029

  transferring groups other than amino-acyl groups (2.3.1) · CPC title