Production of desaturated fatty alcohols and desaturated fatty acyl acetates in yeast

Abstract

The present invention relates to the production of compounds comprised in pheromones, in particular moth pheromones, such as desaturated fatty alcohols and desaturated fatty acyl acetates and derivatives thereof, from a yeast cell.

1 - 19 . (canceled) 
     
     
         20 . A method for production of a pheromone composition comprising desaturated fatty alcohols and/or desaturated fatty alcohol acetates, said method comprising the steps of:
 A. Providing a yeast cell and incubating said yeast cell in a medium, wherein the yeast cell expresses:   i) at least one heterologous desaturase capable of introducing at least one double bond in a fatty acyl-CoA having a carbon chain length of 14, thereby converting at least part of said fatty acyl-CoA to a desaturated fatty acyl-CoA, wherein said desaturase is selected from the group consisting of a Δ9 desaturase and a Δ11 desaturase; and:
 a) has an amino acid sequence having at least 80% homology to the Δ9 desaturase from  Drosophila melanogaster  as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 10; 
 b) has an amino acid sequence having at least 80% homology to the Δ9 desaturase from  Spodoptera litura  as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 12; 
 c) has an amino acid sequence having at least 80% homology to the Δ11 desaturase from  Choristoneura parallela  as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 66; or 
 d) has an amino acid sequence having at least 80% homology to the Δ11 desaturase from  Choristoneura rosaceana  as set forth in SEQ ID NO: 65; and 
   ii) at least one heterologous fatty acyl-CoA reductase, capable of converting at least part of said desaturated fatty acyl-CoA to a desaturated fatty alcohol, thereby producing said desaturated fatty alcohols;
 wherein the desaturase has a higher specificity towards tetradecanoyl-CoA than towards hexadecanoyl-CoA and/or wherein the fatty acyl-CoA reductase has a higher specificity towards desaturated tetradecanoyl-CoA than towards desaturated hexadecanoyl-CoA, 
   B. Converting at least part of the desaturated fatty alcohols produced by the yeast cell to desaturated fatty alcohol acetates, thereby producing said desaturated fatty alcohol acetates, and   C. Formulating the desaturated fatty alcohols and/or the desaturated fatty alcohol acetates into a pheromone composition together with one or more additional compounds.   
     
     
         21 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein at least 10% of the desaturated fatty alcohols and/or the desaturated fatty alcohol acetates have a carbon chain length of 14. 
     
     
         22 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the yeast cell further expresses an acetyltransferase capable of converting at least part of said desaturated fatty alcohols to desaturated fatty alcohol acetates, thereby producing said desaturated fatty alcohol acetates. 
     
     
         23 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the step of converting at least part of the desaturated fatty alcohols to desaturated fatty alcohol acetates is a step of chemical conversion, thereby producing said desaturated fatty alcohol acetates. 
     
     
         24 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the one or more additional compounds is selected from the group consisting of a liquid carrier, a solid carrier and a substrate. 
     
     
         25 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the one or more additional compounds is selected from the group consisting of vegetable oils, refined mineral oils or fractions thereof, rubbers, plastics, silica, diatomaceous earth, wax matrix and cellulose powder. 
     
     
         26 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the pheromone composition is formulated as a solution, a gel or a powder. 
     
     
         27 . The method according to  claim 20 , wherein the pheromone composition is formulated so that it can be easily dispensed in a field. 
     
     
         28 . The method according to  claim 21 , wherein the one or more additional compounds is selected from the group consisting of vegetable oils, refined mineral oils or fractions thereof, rubbers, plastics, silica, diatomaceous earth, wax matrix and cellulose powder. 
     
     
         29 . A pheromone composition comprising desaturated fatty alcohols and/or desaturated fatty alcohol acetates obtainable by the method according to  claim 20 . 
     
     
         30 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein at least 10% of the desaturated fatty alcohols and/or desaturated fatty alcohol acetates have a carbon chain length of 14. 
     
     
         31 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein the pheromone composition comprises desaturated fatty alcohol acetates. 
     
     
         32 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein the pheromone composition comprises one or more additional compounds selected from the group consisting of a liquid carrier, a solid carrier and a substrate. 
     
     
         33 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein the pheromone composition comprises one or more additional compounds selected from the group consisting of vegetable oils, refined mineral oils or fractions thereof, rubbers, plastics, silica, diatomaceous earth, wax matrix and cellulose powder. 
     
     
         34 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein the pheromone composition is formulated as a solution, a gel or a powder. 
     
     
         35 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 29 , wherein the pheromone composition is formulated so that it can be easily dispensed in a field. 
     
     
         36 . The pheromone composition according to  claim 30 , wherein the pheromone composition comprises one or more additional compounds selected from the group consisting of vegetable oils, refined mineral oils or fractions thereof, rubbers, plastics, silica, diatomaceous earth, wax matrix and cellulose powder. 
     
     
         37 . A fermentation broth comprising desaturated fatty alcohols and/or desaturated fatty alcohol acetates. 
     
     
         38 . The fermentation broth according to  claim 37 , wherein at least 10% of the desaturated fatty alcohols and/or desaturated fatty alcohol acetates have a carbon chain length of 14. 
     
     
         39 . The fermentation broth according to  claim 37 , wherein the broth comprises desaturated fatty alcohol acetates.