Boosting the hydroxyfatty acid synthesis inEscherichia coliby expression ofBacillus megateriumglucose dehydrogenase

This study devised an effective method for the direct production of hydroxyfatty acids (HFAs) from free fatty acids (FFAs) using Escherichia coli. By employing fatty acid hydroxylase P450BM3 and glucose dehydrogenase (GDH) to convert FFAs to HFAs, high-specificity production of C12 HFAs was achieved. By further knocking out the endogenous fadD gene of E. coli, an engineered strain capable of producing 702.3 mg/L C12 HFA was finally obtained, accounting for 92.9% of the total HFAs production, representing a higher titre reported in shake flask so far. This study provides an attractive strategy for increasing HFAs production in E. coli by increasing NADPH accumulation.