Evaluation of two thioesterases from Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8: Relationship to wax ester production.

The biosynthesis of lipid-based biofuels is an important aspect of developing sustainable alternatives to conventional oils derived from fossil fuel reserves. Many biosynthetic approaches to biodiesel fuels and oils involve fatty acid derivatives as a precursor, and thioesterases have been employed in various strategies to increase fatty acid pools. Thioesterases liberate fatty acids from fatty acyl-coenzyme A or fatty acyl-acyl carrier protein substrates. The role played by thioesterases has not been extensively studied in model bacteria that accumulate elevated levels of biological oils based on fatty acid precursors. In this report, two primary thioesterases from the wax ester accumulating bacterium Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8 were heterologously expressed, isolated and characterized. These genes were further analyzed at the transcriptional level in the native bacterium during wax ester accumulation, and their genes were disrupted to determine the effect these changes had on wax ester levels. Combined, these results indicate that these two thioesterases do not play an integral role in wax ester accumulation in this natural lipid-accumulating model bacterium.

Draft Genome Sequences of the Alga-Degrading Bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila Strain AD9 and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes Strain AD6.

Aeromonas hydrophila AD9 and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes AD6 have been linked to algal cell degradation. Here we report the draft genomes of A. hydrophila AD9 and P. pseudoalcaligenes AD6 for the investigation of causative agents for algal cell degradation.

Potential application of algicidal bacteria for improved lipid recovery with specific algae.

The utility of specific strains of natural algicidal bacteria isolated from shallow wetland sediments was evaluated against several strains of algae with potential immediate or future commercial value. Two strains of bacteria, Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes AD6 and Aeromonas hydrophila AD9, were identified and demonstrated to have algicidal activity against the microalgae Neochloris oleoabundans and Dunaliella tertiolecta. These bacteria were further evaluated for the potential to improve lipid extraction using a mild solvent extraction approach. Aeromonas hydrophila AD9 showed a nearly 12-fold increase in lipid extraction with D. tertiolecta, while both bacteria showed a sixfold improvement in lipid extraction with N. oleoabundans.

Fatty alcohols for wax esters in Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8: two optional routes in the wax biosynthesis pathway.

The biosynthesis of wax esters in bacteria is accomplished by a unique pathway that combines a fatty alcohol and a fatty acyl coenzyme A substrate. Previous in vitro enzymatic studies indicated that two different enzymes could be involved in the synthesis of the required fatty alcohol in Marinobacter aquaeolei VT8. In this study, we demonstrate through a series of gene deletions and transcriptional analysis that either enzyme is capable of fulfilling the role of providing the fatty alcohol required for wax ester biosynthesis in vivo, but evolution has clearly selected one of these, a previously characterized fatty aldehyde reductase, as the preferred enzyme to perform this reaction under typical wax ester-accumulating conditions. These results complement previous in vitro studies and provide the first glimpse into the role of each enzyme in vivo in the native organism.