Exemplary embodiments provided herein include genetically engineering microorganisms, such as yeast or bacteria, to produce cannabinoids by inserting genes that produce the appropriate enzymes for the metabolic production of a desired compound.

Exemplary embodiments provided herein include genetically engineering microorganisms, such as yeast or bacteria, to produce cannabinoids by inserting genes that produce the appropriate enzymes for the metabolic production of a desired compound.

An engineered microorganism(s) with novel pathways for the conversion of short-chain hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals (e.g. carboxylic acids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and their alpha-, beta-, and omega-functionalized derivatives) is described. Key to this approach is the use of hydrocarbon activation enzymes able to overcome the high stability and low reactivity of hydrocarbon compounds through the cleavage of an inert CH bond. Oxygen-dependent or oxygen-independent activation enzymes can be exploited for this purpose, which when combined with appropriate pathways for the conversion of activated hydrocarbons to key metabolic intermediates, enables the generation of product precursors that can subsequently be converted to desired compounds through established pathways. These novel engineered microorganism(s) provide a route for the production of fuels and chemicals from short chain hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.

The invention provides a method for preparing pyrrolidone, and the invention provides a method for catalytically preparing pyrrolidone with ?-aminobutyric acid in the presence of carnitine-CoA ligase CaiC. The carnitine-CoA ligase CaiC has an amino acid sequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:1. The ligase has catalytic activity in the cyclization of ?-aminobutyric acid to produce pyrrolidone. The carnitine-CoA ligase provided in the present invention affords a yield of pyrrolidone of 3.26 g/L and a molar yield of 39.53% in 24 h when ?-aminobutyric acid is used as a substrate, thus reducing the production period, improving the production of pyrrolidone, and accelerating the industrialization process of producing pyrrolidone by enzymatic conversion method.

Enzymes and recombinant host cells for the biosynthesis of clinically important prenylated polyketides of the cannabinoid family are provided. Using readily available starting materials, heterologous enzymes (e.g., bacterial CoA-transferases and CoA-ligases) are used to direct cannabinoid biosynthesis in host cells such as recombinant yeast cells.

Exemplary embodiments provided herein include genetically engineering microorganisms, such as yeast or bacteria, to produce cannabinoids by inserting genes that produce the appropriate enzymes for the metabolic production of a desired compound.

The present disclosure relates to recombinant polypeptides that have prenyltransferase activity, nucleic acids encoding these recombinant polypeptides, recombinant host cells that produce these recombinant polypeptides, and compositions comprising the recombinant polypeptides, nucleic acids, and/or recombinant host cells. The present disclosure also relates to uses of these recombinant polypeptides, nucleic acids encoding them, and recombinant host cells comprising them, in methods for the preparation of cannabinoids.

Exemplary embodiments provided herein include genetically engineering microorganisms, such as yeast or bacteria, to produce cannabinoids by inserting genes that produce the appropriate enzymes for the metabolic production of a desired compound.

A method of producing lipids, containing the steps of: culturing a transformant wherein the expressions of a gene encoding any one of the following proteins (A) to (F) and a gene encoding an acyl-ACP thioesterase are enhanced, and producing fatty acids or lipids containing these fatty acids as components:
(A) a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 2;
(B) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence having 89% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of the protein (A), and having acyl-CoA synthetase activity;
(C) a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 4;
(D) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence having 49% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of the protein (C), and having acyl-CoA synthetase activity;
(E) a protein consisting of the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO: 6; and
(F) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence having 85% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of the protein (E), and having acyl-CoA synthetase activity.

Genetically engineered cells and microorganisms are provided that produce products from the fatty acid biosynthetic pathway (fatty acid derivatives), as well as methods of their use. The products are particularly useful as biofuels.