Augmented lipid biosynthesis
In the interest of engineering an algal strain with high lipid content for biodiesel production, the ASP focused on overexpressing acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase), an enzyme that catalyzes an initial metabolic step in lipid biosynthesis. In 1994, researchers were able to isolate the gene coding for ACCase in the diatom Cyclotella cryptica [ 50]. With this, they developed expression vectors and a transformation protocol that enabled the first attempt at metabolic engineering of a microalga [ 51]. Even though the overexpression of ACCase did not have a significant effect on lipid synthesis, the tools and methodologies established by this work have set the stage for future genetic engineering efforts in microalgae [ 30••].