Fig. 1: The effect of expression of thioesterases on alka(e)ne production.

a Metabolic pathways for alka(e)ne production employing the fatty acid photodecarboxylase according to previous literature that free fatty acids are the precursors of alka(e)nes (the revised pathway is shown in Fig. 2). Black arrows represent native pathways while blue arrows indicate heterologous pathways. TE, acyl-CoA/acyl-ACP thioesterases; TGL3 and TGL4, intracellular lipases from Y. lipolytica; FAA1, acyl-CoA synthase, ACC, acetyl-CoA carboxylase, FAS1 and FAS2, fatty acid synthase 1 and 2, DGAs, diacylglycerol transferases. b Alka(e)ne production is observed by expressing photodecarboxylase in a wild-type strain. Expression of thioesterases (EcTesA′ and UcACPT) and knockout of FAA1 did not enhance alka(e)ne production but decreased, although free fatty acid titers were increased. Fermentations were performed in 50 mL conical shake flasks with a working volume of 13 mL and an initial OD₆₀₀ of 0.1 for 3 days in the dark followed by 3 days in blue light generated by light source 1 (Supplementary Fig. 16). Fermentation medium was composed of 20 g/L glucose, 6.9 g/L yeast nitrogen base (without amino acids), and 1 g/L yeast extract. Data represent mean value, n = 2 biologically independent samples. Source data underlying Fig. 1b are provided as a Source Data file.