JB Accepts, published online ahead of print on 22 September 2006

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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.01321-06
Copyright (c) 2006, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Mutation in a ‘tesB-like’ hydroxyacyl-CoA-specific thioesterase gene causes hyper-production of extracellular polyhydroxyalkanoates by Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2

Julia S. Sabirova^*, Manuel Ferrer, Heinrich Lünsdorf, Victor Wray, Rainer Kalscheuer, Alexander Steinbüchel, Kenneth N. Timmis, and Peter N. Golyshin

Department of Environmental Microbiology, HZI-Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research, Braunschweig, Germany, Institute of Microbiology, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, and CSIC, Institute of Catalysis, Cantoblanco, Madrid, Spain, Institut für Molekulare Mikrobiologie und Biotechnologie, Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität, Münster, Germany

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: jsa05{at}helmholtz-hzi.de,

A novel mutant of the marine oil-degrading bacterium Alcanivorax borkumensis SK2, containing a mini-Tn5 transposon disrupting a ‘tesB-like’ acyl-CoA thioesterase gene, was found to hyper-produce polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), resulting in extracellular deposition of this biotechnologically important polymer, when grown on alkanes. The ‘tesB-like’ gene encodes a distinct novel enzyme activity which acts exclusively on hydroxylated acyl-CoAs, and thus represents a hydroxyacyl-CoA-specific thioesterase. Inactivation of this enzyme results in re-channeling of CoA-activated hydroxylated fatty acids, the cellular intermediates of alkane degradation, towards PHA production. These findings may open up new avenues for the development of simplified biotechnological processes for production of PHA as a raw material for the production of bioplastics.

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