Fig. 1

Outline of the study. Nine synthetic alkane-producing pathways were constructed from genetic parts originating from different species (a). The performance of these pathways in alkane production from acetate was evaluated by a previously developed twin-layer sensor (b), which allows the detection of both the pathway intermediate (fatty aldehyde) and the end product (alkane). The engineered strain that produced most alkanes was coupled with a process in which acetate was produced from carbon dioxide by acetogenic bacteria, leading to the net production of alkanes from carbon dioxide (c)