Engineered chlorophyll catabolism conferring predator resistance for microalgal biomass production.

Production of valuable compounds including biofuels and pharmaceutical precursors derived from microalgae has garnered significant interest. Stable production of algal biomass is essential to make the microalgal industry commercially feasible. However, one of the largest issues is severe biological contamination by predators grazing the algal biomass, resulting in the crash of outdoor cultures.

Microbial production of neryl-α-D-glucopyranoside from nerol by Agrobacterium sp. M-12 reflects glucosyl transfer activity.

Terpene alcohol is widely used in perfumes and is known to possess antibacterial activity. Moreover, in its glycosylated form, it can be applied as a nonionic surfactant in food, and in the pharmaceutical, chemical, cosmetic, and detergent industries. Presently, chemical production of terpene glucosides is hampered by high costs and low yields.