1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a new microorganism belonging to the genus Rhodococcus. More particularly, it relates to a new microorganism capable of producing an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound from a saturated hydrocarbon compound.
The present invention also relates to a new process for producing an unsaturated fatty acid and derivative thereof by the aid of said microorganism.
The present invention further relates to a new process for producing an alkene and derivative thereof by the aid of said microorganism.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds such as unsaturated fatty acids and derivatives thereof having 10 to 22 carbon atoms find use as perfumes, drugs, paints, lubricants, surface active agents, and cosmetics, and also as raw materials therefor.
Heretofore, such unsaturated fatty acids and derivatives thereof have been produced by hydrolyzing animal or vegetable oils and fats or by chemical synthesis. Unfortunately, the hydrolysis of oils and fats has a disadvantage in that it yields many compounds which differ in the length of the carbon chain and the degree of saturation, and the chemical synthesis also has a shortcoming in that it needs many steps and yields mixed compounds of the cis form and the trans form.
Unsaturated fatty acids can also be produced by using a microorganism or a microorganism-derived enzyme. In this case, the hydrolysis of oils and fats is performed by the aid of lipase. However, no process is known that permits the production of unsaturated fatty acids or derivatives thereof from commercially available saturated fatty acids or derivative thereof by the aid of microorganisms.
Alkenes and derivatives thereof include many compounds useful as intermediates for the synthesis of pheromones, perfumes, and organic compounds. Heretofore, alkenes and derivatives thereof have been produced by the metathesis reaction for a halogenated monoalkene and a monoalkene catalyzed by a halogen-containing metal. A disadvantage of this process is that it is necessary to completely dehydrate and dry the raw material, catalyst, solvent, and apparatus because the catalyst is inactivated by water. Another disadvantage is that the reaction should be performed in an inert gas stream, the reaction requires complicated steps, and the reaction product is a mixture of compounds of the cis form and the trans form.
Besides the chemical synthesis, there is a known process that utilizes a microorganism (as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,629,072). Unfortunately, this process is not satisfactory as an industrial process because of its slow reaction and low yields.
In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, the present inventors carried out a research which led to the finding that a strain which had been isolated (by the present inventors) from soil on the Okinawa Main Island and mutated by irradiation with ultraviolet light has an ability to efficiently convert a saturated hydrocarbon into an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound and also has an ability to efficiently convert an alkane or a derivative thereof into an alkene or a derivative thereof. The present invention was completed on the basis of this finding.