S136: Photoautotrophic Production of Wax Esters and Fatty Alcohols in Synechocystis PCC6803 - Wax Esters and Fatty Alcohols in Cyanobacteria

Wax esters are products of significant commercial and industrial importance. Here we describe the biosynthesis of wax esters and fatty alcohols in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 by two different strategies utilizing heterologous expression of lipogenic genes: an acyl-CoA dependent pathway, and an acyl-ACP dependent pathway. The acyl-coA dependent wax ester pathway utilized four genes; an acyl-acyl-carrier-protein (ACP) thioesterase (TE), acyl-CoA synthetase (ACS), fatty acyl reductase (FAR), and  a wax ester synthase (WS). A novel acyl-ACP dependent wax ester pathway was discovered which utilized two genes; a microbial FAR and WS that are capable of using acyl-ACP as a substrate. In phototrophic cultures, the expression of the acyl-ACP dependent wax ester pathway using a nickle inducible promoter yielded 8 mg L^-1  of wax esters.