Life Sciences Commons^™

Insights Into Triterpene Metabolism In Model Monocotyledonous And Oilseed Plants Genetically Engineered With Genes From Botryococcus Braunii, Chase F. Kempinski

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Isoprenoids are one of the most diverse classes of natural products and are all derived from universal five carbon, prenyl precursors. Squalene and botryococcene are linear, hydrocarbon triterpenes (thirty carbon compounds with six prenyl units) that have industrial and medicinal values. Squalene is produced by all eukaryotes as it is the first committed precursor to sterols, while botryococcene is uniquely produced by the green algae, Botryococcus braunii (race B). Natural sources for these compounds exist, but there is a desire for more renewable production platforms. The model plant Arabidopsis thaliana was engineered to accumulate botryococcene and squalene in its oil …

Elucidating The Biochemical Wizardry Of Triterpene Metabolism In Botroycoccus Braunii, Thomas Daniel Niehaus

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

B. braunii is a green alga that has attracted attention as a potential renewable fuel source due to its high oil content and the archeological record of its unique contribution to oil and coal shales. Three extant chemotypes of B. braunii have been described, namely race A, race B, and race L, which accumulate alkadienes and alkatrienes, botryococcene and squalene and their methylated derivatives, and lycopadiene, respectively. The methylated triterpenes, particularly botryococcenes, produced by race B can be efficiently converted to high quality combustible fuels and other petrochemicals; however, botryococcene biosynthesis has remained enigmatic.

It has been suggested that botryococcene …