Production of fatty alcohol in Komagataella pastoris by heterologous expression of fatty acyl-CoA reductase

Abstract:

[Objective] We selected Simmondsia chinensis (Jojoba) fatty acyl-CoA reductase Jojoba FAR for heterologous expression in Komagataella pastoris strain GS115 to produce fatty alcohol by fermentation. [Methods] Gene encoding this fatty acyl-CoA reductase was amplified from plasmid pRL105 and cloned into the plasmid pGAPZαA; the recombinant expression plasmid was transformed into K. pastoris GS115 by electrotransformation. We detected fatty alcohol from positive transformant by GC-MS. [Results] We constructed a recombinant K. pastoris GS115 strain pGAPZ-far-GS115 that produced fatty alcohols in flask fermentation. Afterwards, a fed-batch fermentation was used for further verification. And the engineered strain produced 134.74 mg/L fatty alcohols with a productivity of 1.22 mg/(L·h). [Conclusion] Our findings prove the possibility to produce fatty alcohol in K. pastoris GS115, provide the potential for industrial production of fatty alcohol by K. pastoris.

Key words:Fatty acyl-CoA reductase, Komagataella pastoris, Fermentation, Fatty alcohol