Abstract: The invention analyzed a protein sequence using the Udwary-Merski algorithm and identified a tetradomain fragment (DH1-DH2-UMA) which consists of two predicted DH-like domains and two pseudodomains N-terminal to them. This arrangement of domains and pseudodomains is fundamentally the opposite of what is typically observed in the DH cassettes of actinobacterial polyketide synthases or mammalian fatty acid synthases, both of which feature C-terminal pseudodomains. The invention modified E. coli by over expressing DH1-DH2-UMA in E. coli resulting in an increase in the overall production of all the fatty acids normally present in the E. coli fatty acid profile.

Abstract: The invention analyzed a protein sequence using the Udwary-Merski algorithm and identified a tetradomain fragment (DH1-DH2-UMA) which consists of two predicted DH-like domains and two pseudodomains N-terminal to them. This arrangement of domains and pseudodomains is fundamentally the opposite of what is typically observed in the DH cassettes of actinobacterial polyketide synthases or mammalian fatty acid synthases, both of which feature C-terminal pseudodomains. The invention modified E coli by over expressing H1-DH2-UMA in E coli resulting in an increase in the overall production of all the fatty acids normally present in the E coli fatty acid profile.