Methods and compositions for the production of food compositions, oils, fuels, oleochemicals, and other compounds in recombinant microorganisms are provided, including oil-bearing microorganisms and methods of low cost cultivation of such microorganisms. Microalgal cells containing exogenous genes encoding, for example, a lipase, a sucrose transporter, a sucrose invertase, a fructokinase, a polysaccharide-degrading enzyme, a keto acyl-ACP synthase enzyme, a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase, a fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase, a fatty acyl-CoA reductase, a fatty aldehyde reductase, a fatty aldehyde decarbonylase, and/or an acyl carrier protein are useful in manufacturing food compositions, and transportation fuels such as renewable diesel, biodiesel, and renewable jet fuel, as well as oleochemicals such as functional fluids, surfactants, soaps and lubricants.

An acyl-ACP thioesterase consisting of an amino acid sequence of the 115.sup.th to 274.sup.th amino acids set forth in SEQ ID NO: 1; an acyl-ACP thioesterase gene encoding the protein; a transformant having the gene; and a method of producing a lipid using the transformant.

The present disclosure provides a gene encoding a protein having ?-ketoacyl-ACP synthase activity having at least 60% or more identity with the amino acid sequence set forth in SEQ ID NO:1, the protein encoded by the gene, a method of producing a transformant by transforming a host with the gene, a transformant that is transformed with the gene, and a method of producing a lipid, especially, a lipid containing a medium chain fatty acid or ester thereof, by culturing the transformed host that expresses the gene. In some embodiments, the transformant also has a gene encoding an acyl-ACP thioesterase.

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 oftriglyceride (=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.

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.

A method of improving lipid productivity, containing the steps of: enhancing the expression of a gene encoding the following protein (A) or (B), and improving the productivity of medium-chain fatty acids or lipids containing these fatty acids as components produced in a cell of a transformant, or the total amount of all fatty acids produced in a cell of a transformant:
(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 64% or more identity with the amino acid sequence of the protein (A), and having glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase activity.

The present disclosure relates to an engineered microbe capable of improved productivity of fatty acid or fatty acid derivative. An NAD.sup.+-dependent 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase or NAD.sup.+-dependent 3-oxoacyl-CoA reductase replaces or supplements the native NADP.sup.+-dependent 3-oxoacyl-ACP reductase so as to utilize the higher availability of NAD.sup.+ rather than NADP.sup.+ in the cell. Higher production, yield and titer of fatty acids are therefore obtained. Such microbes can be combined with other mutations to further improve yield of fatty acids or fatty acid derivatives.

Methods and compositions for the production of food compositions, oils, fuels, oleochemicals, and other compounds in recombinant microorganisms are provided, including oil-bearing microorganisms and methods of low cost cultivation of such microorganisms. Microalgal cells containing exogenous genes encoding, for example, a lipase, a sucrose transporter, a sucrose invertase, a fructokinase, a polysaccharide-degrading enzyme, a keto acyl-ACP synthase enzyme, a fatty acyl-ACP thioesterase, a fatty acyl-CoA/aldehyde reductase, a fatty acyl-CoA reductase, a fatty aldehyde reductase, a fatty aldehyde decarbonylase, and/or an acyl carrier protein are useful in manufacturing food compositions, and transportation fuels such as renewable diesel, biodiesel, and renewable jet fuel, as well as oleochemicals such as functional fluids, surfactants, soaps and lubricants.

Provided is a cyanobacterium with improved productivity of fatty acid. A method for producing a modified cyanobacterium, comprising causing loss of functions of an AbrB-like transcriptional regulator and acyl-ACP synthetase in a cyanobacterium.

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.