The present disclosure relates to the production of 8-methyl nonanoic acid and medium chain branched fatty acids, e.g., via microbial fermentation.

The present invention relates to methods of producing industrial products from plant lipids, particularly from vegetative parts of plants. In particular, the present invention provides oil products such as biofuel, and processes for producing these products, as well as plants having an increased level medium chain fatty acids such as lauric acid and myristic acid. In one particular embodiment, the present invention relates to combinations of modifications in a fatty acid thioesterase and one or more acyltransferases. In an embodiment, the present invention relates to a process for extracting lipids. In another embodiment, the lipid is converted to one or more hydrocarbon products in harvested plant vegetative parts to produce alkyl esters of the fatty acids which are suitable for use as a renewable biofuel.

Provided herein are novel, synthetic polypeptides having, for example, acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE) activity, including polypeptides that convert pimeloyl-ACP to pimelic acid. In some aspects, the synthetic polypeptides have advantageous enzymatic activity and/or improved substrate specificity relative to a wild type acyl-ACP TE.

A method of producing lipids, containing the steps of: culturing a transformant in which the expression of a gene encoding the following protein (A) or (B) is 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: 1; and (B) a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence having 44% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of the protein (A), and having acyltransferase activity.

The technology described herein is directed to engineered chemoautotrophic bacteria and methods of producing triacylglycerides. Also described herein are systems or bioreactors comprising said engineered bacteria.

The present invention relates to methods of producing industrial products from plant lipids, particularly from vegetative parts of plants. In particular, the present invention provides oil products such as biofuel, and processes for producing these products, as well as plants having an increased level medium chain fatty acids such as lauric acid and myristic acid. In one particular embodiment, the present invention relates to combinations of modifications in a fatty acid thioesterase and one or more acyltransferases. In an embodiment, the present invention relates to a process for extracting lipids. In another embodiment, the lipid is converted to one or more hydrocarbon products in harvested plant vegetative parts to produce alkyl esters of the fatty acids which are suitable for use as a renewable biofuel.

The disclosure relates to a recombinant microorganism engineered to express an enzyme which catalyzes the conversion of a primary amine and an acyl thioester to a fatty amide. The disclosure further encompasses a method of producing a fatty amide by culturing the recombinant microorganism in the presence of a carbon source.

The disclosure relates to the production of methyl laurate by genetically engineered photosynthetic microorganisms. In particular, provided herein are methods and compositions for producing methyl laurate from carbon dioxide and water in genetically engineered cyanobacteria and other photosynthetic microorganisms.

The present invention relates to variant thioesterases and their use in plants, e.g., to increase enzymatic activity and to promote increased production of mid-chain length fatty acids (e.g., 8 to 14 carbons) and at desired ratios. Further disclosed herein are methods of manufacturing renewable chemicals through the manufacture of novel triglyceride oils followed by chemical modification of the oils. Oils containing fatty acid chain lengths of C8, C10, C12 or C14 are also disclosed and are useful as feedstocks in the methods described herein.

It is an object of the present invention to provide the eukaryotic microalgae, which have been genetically modified such that larger amounts of assimilation products produced by photosynthesis are directed to the synthesis of triglyceride (=triacylglycerol; TAG), and specifically, the present invention relates to a genetically modified strain of eukaryotic microalgae, in which a gene encoding an AGL1 protein is highly expressed, or a gene encoding an FAT1 protein and/or a gene encoding a DGAT2 protein are further highly expressed, as well as the gene encoding an AGL1 protein, wherein TAG productivity is improved in comparison to the parent strain thereof.