Development of an efficient system for free fatty acid production using cyanobacterial mutants affected in nitrate assimilation.

Research Project Outline

We aim at increasing the efficiency of free fatty acid production by cyanobacteria. To reduce the cost of fertilizers and to increase the light use efficiency, we develop a method to regulate cell growth by nitrogen limitation during the production and excretion of free fatty acid. Our goal is to achieve a ten-times higher level of fatty acid production per unit of cellular nitrogen than the present level, which would correspond to production of four-times greater mass of the product than that of the cell dry matter.