Biotechnological production of alcohols and derivatives thereof

Abstract

The present invention relates to a microorganism having a reduced fatty acid degradation capacity and expressing a recombinant alkane oxidase, a method for oxidizing an alkyl, comprising a contacting the alkyl with an aqueous solution comprising the inventive cell.

1 . A microorganism having a reduced fatty acid degradation capacity and expressing a recombinant alkane oxidase. 
     
     
         2 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the expressed recombinant alkane oxidase is selected from the group consisting of a rubredoxin-dependent alkane oxidase, a cytochrome P450 enzyme, a xylene monooxygenase, a methane monooxygenase, and variants thereof. 
     
     
         3 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the fatty acid degradation capacity is reduced due to deletion of a gene encoding an enzyme selected from the group consisting of a fatty acid importer, a fatty acid-CoA ligase, an acyl-CoA dehydrogenase, a 2,4-dienoyl-CoA reductase, an enoyl-CoA hydratase and a 3-ketoacyl-CoA thiolase. 
     
     
         4 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is a prokaryotic or a lower eukaryotic cell. 
     
     
         5 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the microorganism expresses a recombinant alcohol dehydrogenase. 
     
     
         6 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the microorganism expresses a recombinant transaminase. 
     
     
         7 . The microorganism according to  claim 6 , wherein the microorganism expresses a recombinant amino acid dehydrogenase. 
     
     
         8 . A method for oxidizing an alkyl, comprising
 a) contacting the alkyl with an aqueous solution comprising the microorganism according to  claim 1 .   
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 8 , further comprising
 b) contacting the aqueous solution from a) with a water-immiscible organic solvent.   
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein b) is carried out following completion of the alkyl oxidation. 
     
     
         11 . (canceled) 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the alkyl is a compound represented by the formula H—(CH 2 ) x —R, wherein x is 1 to 30, and R is any chemical group. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 8 , wherein the alkyl is a linear alkane. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 9 , wherein the water-immiscible organic solvent is a water-immiscible fatty acid or fatty acid ester. 
     
     
         15 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is a bacterial cell. 
     
     
         16 . The microorganism according to  claim 1 , wherein the microorganism is  E. coli.    
     
     
         17 . The microorganism according to  claim 7 , wherein the recombinant amino acid dehydrogenase is an alanine dehydrogenase.