Patent ID: 8852885

Claim:
A method for using sucrose to produce an oil comprising triacylglycerides that comprise ricinoleic acid, or a product produced from the oil, the method comprising: cultivating a cell of a recombinant oleaginous microalga of the species Prototheca moriformis , the cell comprising: nucleic acids operable to enhance oleic acid production so as to elevate the substrate levels for an exogenous oleate 12-hydroxylase by expressing a product of an exogenous gene encoding an active stearoyl ACP desaturase and decreasing or eliminating the expression of an enzyme encoded by one or more endogenous genes that encode a fatty acid desaturase by directly targeting said endogenous gene(s) or RNA products of said gene(s); and an exogenous nucleic acid operable to express the active oleate 12-hydroxylase, so as to synthesize the ricinoleic acid; and an exogenous nucleic acid operable to express an active invertase; and feeding sucrose to the cell so as to produce the oil comprising triacylglycerides comprising ricinoleic acid, wherein the ricinoleic acid is detectable by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.