Microbial β-oxidation of synthetic long-chain fatty acids to improve lipid biomethanation

beta-oxidation is a well-known pathway for fatty acid (FA) degradation. However, the wide range of feedstocks, their intermediates, and complex microbial networks involved in anaerobic digestion (AD) make beta-oxidation unclear during lipid digestion having a variety of long-chain fatty acids (LCFAs). Here, we demonstrated the detailed metabolic pathway of major bacteria and enzymes responsible for the beta-oxidation of individual saturated FAs (C16:0 and C18:0) and unsaturated FAs (C18:1 and C18:2). C16:0 showed no negative impact on AD. The relative enzyme abundance and production of shorter-chain FAs (

Automated summary

This study demonstrated the detailed metabolic pathway of beta-oxidation for saturated and unsaturated fatty acids during anaerobic digestion, and found that C16:0 had no negative impact on the process.