Biotechnological Innovations in Chemical Synthesis Biotransformation of lipids.pdfVIP

293 Biotransformationof lipids 9.1 Introduction 294 9.2 The structure,roles and abundanceof sterols and steroids 295 9.3 Selective degradation of the sterol side chain 298 9.4 Specific steroid interconversions and reactions 309 9.5 Transformation of other terpenoids 321 9.6 Chemical conversion of miscellaneous organic compounds 326 9.7 Production and use of fatty acids and their derivatives 329 9.8 Selection of production systems for the biotransformation of lipids 337 Summary and objectives 339 294 Chapter 9 Biotransformation of lipids 9.1 Introduction In this chapter we will examine how cells and enzymes are used in the transformation bids i ~ ~ ~ e a of lipids. The lipids are, of course,a very diverse and complex series of molecular wide^$^^! entities including fatty acids, triglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, aliphatic types alcohols, waxes, terpenes and steroids. It is usual to teach about these molecules, in a biochemical context, in more or lessthe ordergiven above, sincethisrepresents a logical sequenceleading from simplemoleculesto the more complex.Here, however, we have adopted a different strategy. Clearly,the technical and commercialaspectsof industrial lipid transformationareboth diverse and complex. We have, therefore, to be selective in what we can include in a single chapter. We have decided to begn the chapterby discussingthe transformation of sterols and steroids since these transformations are illustrative of the potency of biocatalysts in bringing about selective and stereospecific chemical transformation of quite complex molecules. This part of this chapter is a logical extension of the issues discussed in the previous chapter.We have also elected to focus on the technical rather than the commercial issues although attention is drawn to the importance of commercial criteria in the selection of strategies for production. The reader should be aware, however, that the production of steroids for pha