In this report, we describe the engineering of E. coli for the
production of even- and odd-chain FAs by fermentation.
Enzymes related to those previously used for the production
of butyrate and 1-butanol are used for the production
of butyrate, hexanoate and octanoate (Fig. 1). Studies also
indicated that product toxicity and thioesterase specificity
were critical to product yield and specificity. In addition,
pentanoate and heptanoate were produced using a coenzyme
B12-dependent pathway for propionyl-CoA production.
This pathway has the potential to allow the production
of odd-chain FAs from a single growth substrate (glucose)
in a more energy-efficient manner than the prior methods
used