Provided is a cyanobacterium improved in fatty acid productivity. A method for producing a modified cyanobacterium, comprising causing loss of function of a LexA 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.

The present disclosure describes a genetically engineered a KASIII-independent fatty acid biosynthetic pathway that makes use of the promiscuous nature of the rest of the FAS enzymes (3-ketoacyl-ACP synthetase, 3-ketoacyl-ACP reductase, 3-hydroxyacyl ACP dehydrase, enoyl-ACP reductase) to bypass the KASIII step by providing a Co-A precursor of two or higher than two carbons (such as the four carbon butyryl-CoA) as the starting molecule. Since many CoA-based starter molecules can be supplied for the fatty acid synthesis, much more diversified products can be obtained with various carbon-chain lengths. As such, this disclosure will serve as a powerful and efficient platform to produce low to medium chain length products carrying many different functional groups.

Disclosed herein are microorganisms containing exogenous or heterologous nucleic acid sequences, wherein the microorganisms are capable of growing on gaseous carbon dioxide, gaseous hydrogen, syngas, or combinations thereof. In some embodiments the microorganisms are chemotrophic bacteria that produce or secrete at least 10% of lipid by weight. Also disclosed are methods of fixing gaseous carbon into organic carbon molecules useful for industrial processes. Also disclosed are methods of manufacturing chemicals or producing precursors to chemicals useful in jet fuel, diesel fuel, and biodiesel fuel. Exemplary chemicals or precursors to chemicals useful in fuel production are alkanes, alkenes, alkynes, fatty acid alcohols, fatty acid aldehydes, desaturated hydrocarbons, unsaturated fatty acids, hydroxyl acids, or diacids with carbon chains between six and thirty carbon atoms long. Also disclosed are microorganisms and methods using disclosed microorganisms for the production of butanediol and its chemical precursors in low-oxygen or anaerobic fermentation. Also disclosed are microorganisms and methods using disclosed microorganisms for generating hydroxylated fatty acids in microbes through the transfer of enzymes that are known to hydroxylate fatty acids in plants or microbes. Also disclosed are microorganisms and methods using disclosed microorganisms for the production of shorter-chain fatty acids in microbes through the introduction of exogenous fatty acyl-CoA binding proteins.

Methods to produce oils with modified profiles of fatty acid, carotenoids and/or terpenoids in microalgal mutants are provided. Microalgal mutants produce the oil containing fatty acids, carotenoids and/or terpenoids of a modified profile with a disruption or ablation of one or more alleles of an endogenous polynucleotide or comprising an exogeneous gene are also provided.

A method of increasing production of fatty acids comprising introducing into a host and expressing therein an acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE) from Bryantella formatexigens or a mutant thereof; a method of making a mutant B. formatexigens acyl-ACP TE; a method of making a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a mutant acyl-ACP TE or a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a host comprising the nucleic acid molecule; a mutant acyl-ACP TE or chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a method of altering the specificity of a plant acyl-ACP TE for at least one of its substrates comprising introducing into the plant acyl-ACP TE a substrate specificity-altering mutation; and a method of altering the level of activity of a plant acyl-ACP TE.

Soybean oil compositions with unique fatty acid profiles are disclosed. These oils can be derived by the suppression of endogenous soybean FAD2 and FAD3 genes and the expression of a stearoyl acyl ACP thioesterase. Soybean plants and seeds comprising these oils are also disclosed.

The present invention provides novel genes encoding Class II acyl-ACP thioesterases and variants thereof that are active on C8, C10, C12, C14, C16, and C18 acyl-ACP substrates. The thioesterases can be introduced into transgenic organisms, including microorganisms and photosynthetic organisms, for producing fatty acids and fatty acid products.

The disclosure relates to engineered plant acyl-ACP thioesterases having improved activity for the production of medium-chain fatty acid derivatives including e.g., eight carbon and ten carbon fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives. The disclosure further relates to recombinant host cells comprising the engineered plant acyl-ACP thioesterases having improved activity for the production of medium-chain fatty acid derivatives. The disclosure also relates to methods of decreasing toxicity and improving production of medium-chain fatty acids and derivatives.

A method of increasing production of fatty acids comprising introducing into a host and expressing therein an acyl-acyl carrier protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE) from Bryantella formatexigens or a mutant thereof; a method of making a mutant B. formatexigens acyl-ACP TE; a method of making a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a mutant acyl-ACP TE or a chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a host comprising the nucleic acid molecule; a mutant acyl-ACP TE or chimeric Cuphea viscosissima acyl-ACP TE; a method of altering the specificity of a plant acyl-ACP TE for at least one of its substrates comprising introducing into the plant acyl-ACP TE a substrate specificity-altering mutation; and a method of altering the level of activity of a plant acyl-ACP TE.