Screening of enzymes involved in synthesis and degradation of long-chain alkanes and application of their enzymes for lipid conversion

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24658078
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Applied microbiology
• Research Institution: The University of Tokushima (2014); Kyoto University (2012-2013)
• Principal Investigator: SAKURADANI Eiji 徳島大学, ソシオテクノサイエンス研究部, 教授 (10362427)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): ANDO Akinori 京都大学, 学際融合教育研究推進センター生理化学研究ユニット, 助教 (10537765)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: プロトテカ / アルカン / 微細藻 / サブターミナル酸化

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We found sub-terminal oxidation pathways of n-alkanes in micro-alga Prototheca sp. by screening microorganisms based on degradation of n-alkanes. We tried purification of a secondary alcohol dehydrogenase (SADH) involved in oxidation of a secondary alcohol to the corresponding ketone from P. zopfii JCM9400, and cloning of the encoding gene. Expression of the gene in Escherichia coli revealed that the SADH converted 2-dodecanol to 2-dodecanone. Determination of draft genome sequences in P. zopfii JCM9400 disclosed high GC contents, more than 60% of GC contents in open reading frames, and more than 70% of GC contents in non-coding regions. We succeeded the development of transformation system of P. zopfii JCM9400 by means of particle bombardment.

Free Research Field

応用微生物学