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Linear Hydrocarbon Producing Pathways in Plants, Algae and Microbes

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Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

Abstract

Many different types of organisms synthesize hydrocarbons in nature, but for all their ubiquity, the biochemical and genetic bases for how these compounds are synthesized are not well understood. Several biochemical mechanisms have been proposed for non-isoprenoid hydrocarbon biosynthesis, most notably the head-to-head condensation and elongation-decarboxylation pathways from fatty acid precursors, but definitive characterization of these and other possible mechanisms have largely remained elusive. This review explores the possible metabolic pathways that various plant, algal, and microbial species use to synthesize linear hydrocarbons and the genetic factors that are involved in regulating those pathways.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported in part by National Science Foundation Grant EFRI-0938157. M. Brown is an Iowa State University Plant Sciences Institute Fellow.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering 4130 Biorenewables Research Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Mark Brown

  2. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, 4135 Biorenewables Research Laboratory, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, 50011, USA

    Jacqueline Shanks

Authors
  1. Mark Brown
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  2. Jacqueline Shanks
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Correspondence to Jacqueline Shanks .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Civil &, Construction Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, 50010, Iowa, USA

    Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan

  2. Iowa State University, Town Engineering Building 376, Ames, 50011, USA

    J. (Hans) van Leeuwen

  3. Iowa State University, Marston Hall 411, Ames, 50011, USA

    Robert C. Brown

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Brown, M., Shanks, J. (2012). Linear Hydrocarbon Producing Pathways in Plants, Algae and Microbes. In: Gopalakrishnan, K., van Leeuwen, J., Brown, R. (eds) Sustainable Bioenergy and Bioproducts. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2324-8_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2324-8_1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4471-2323-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-2324-8

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