Scientists discovered that brown algae like kelp make hydrocarbons using two completely different chemical pathways at once, something no other organism on Earth is known to do, hinting at a hidden biological role these molecules play.
1
Six fatty acid photodecarboxylase (FAP) homologs from diverse brown algae were confirmed functional when expressed in E. coli
2
Ectocarpus and Saccharina latissima (sugar kelp) produce two distinct intracellular hydrocarbons: n-pentadecane and a unique n-heneicosahexaene isomer
3
Genome editing showed n-pentadecane is made via the FAP pathway, while n-heneicosahexaene comes from a second, still-unidentified pathway, making brown algae the first known organism with two separate hydrocarbon-forming routes
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