Methods and compositions for producing hydrocarbons
Compositions and methods for producing aldehydes, alkanes, and alkenes are described herein. The aldehydes, alkanes, and alkenes can be used in biofuels.
1. A method of producing an alkane or alkene by engineering a recombinant microorganism comprising an exogenous decarbonylase gene encoding a polypeptide having decarbonylase activity and having the sequences of SEQ ID NO:2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30, 32, 34, or 36, and isolating the alkane or alkene from the host cell.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said microorganism is genetically engineered to produce an alkane or an alkene from an aldehyde.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said aldehyde is produced by an aldehyde biosynthetic polypeptide that is expressed in the engineered microorganism.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said aldehyde biosynthetic polypeptide is an acyl-ACP reductase (AAR) that catalyzes the conversion of an acyl-ACP to a fatty aldehyde.
5. The method of claim 4 , wherein said AAR is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NOs: 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, and 82.
6. The method of claim 3 , wherein said aldehyde biosynthetic polypeptide is a carboxylic acid reductase (CAR) that catalyzes the conversion of a fatty acid to a fatty aldehyde.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein said CAR comprises SEQ ID NO: 86.
8. The method of claim 1 , wherein said polypeptide catalyzes the conversion of a fatty aldehyde to an alkane or alkene.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein said engineered microorganism further comprises a thioesterase that catalyzes the conversion of an acyl-ACP to a fatty acid.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is a bacteria.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the bacteria is E. coli.
12. The method of claim 10 , wherein the bacteria is cyanobacteria.
13. The method of claim 1 , wherein said alkane or alkene is a C3 to C21 alkane or alkene.