Boosting fatty acid synthesis in Rhodococcus opacus PD630 by overexpression of autologous thioesterases

To explore the role of thioesterases in Rhodococcus opacus PD630 by endogenously overexpression in this bacteria for increased lipid production. Overexpression of four thioesterases from R. opacus PD630 in E. coli led to a 2- to 8-fold increase in C16:1 and C18:1 fatty acids while, when overexpressed in R. opacus PD630, only two recombinants had significant effect on the quantities and compositions of total fatty acid. The contents of total fatty acids (FAs) in two recombinants, pJTE2 (OPAG_00508 thioesterase) and pJTE4 (WP_012687673.1 thioesterase), were 400-460 mg/g (CDW) which is 1.5 times of wild-type strain PD630 (300-350 mg/g CDW), and 20-30 % (w/w) more than that of the control strain PDpJAM2 (330-370 mg/g CDW). The contents of 17:1 and 18:1 fatty acids increased by about 27 and 35 %, respectively, in pJTE2 and by 35 and 20 %, respectively, in pJTE4 compared with the control strain. The engineered strains showed improved production of lipid (as total fatty acids), and could also tailor the composition of the fatty acid profile when cultured in mineral salts medium using glucose as sole carbon source.