Production of ω-hydroxy octanoic acid with Escherichia coli.

The present proof-of-concept study reports the construction of a whole-cell biocatalyst for the de novo production of ω-hydroxy octanoic acid. This was achieved by hijacking the natural fatty acid cycle and subsequent hydroxylation using a specific monooxygenase without the need for the additional feed of alkene-like precursors. For this, we used the model organism Escherichia coli and increased primarily the release of the octanoic acid precursors by overexpressing the plant thioesterase FatB2 from Cuphea hookeriana in a β-oxidation deficient strain, which lead to the production of 2.

Synthesis of 9-oxononanoic acid, a precursor for biopolymers.

Polymers based on renewable resources have become increasingly important. The natural functionalization of fats and oils enables an easy access to interesting monomeric building blocks, which in turn transform the derivative biopolymers into high-performance materials. Unfortunately, interesting building blocks of medium-chain length are difficult to obtain by traditional chemical means.