In enzymology, a long-chain-alcohol O-fatty-acyltransferase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction acyl-CoA + a long-chain alcohol CoA + a long-chain ester Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are acyl-CoA and long-chain alcohol, whereas its two products are CoA and long-chain ester. This enzyme belongs to the family of transferases, specifically those acyltransferases transferring groups other than aminoacyl groups. The systematic name of this enzyme class is acyl-CoA:long-chain-alcohol O-acyltransferase. Other names in common use include wax synthase, and wax-ester synthase. In general, wax synthases naturally accept acyl groups with carbon chain lengths of C16 or C18 and linear alcohols with carbon chain lengths ranging from C12 to C20. Variation There are three unrelated families of wax synthases found in many organisms including bacteria, higher plants, and animals in two known distinct forms: either just as a wax synthase enzyme, which is found predominantly in eukaryotes, or as an enzyme with dual wax synthase and acyl CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase function, which is often the final enzyme in the biosynthetic pathway responsible for wax ester production from fatty alcohols and fatty acyl-CoAs and is found predominantly in prokaryotes. Prokaryotic bacteria Acinetobacter There are frequent reports of wax esters biosynthesis in bacteria of the Acinetobacter genus. In particular, it has been shown that the Acinetobacter calcoaceticus ADP1 strain synthesizes wax esters through a bifunctional wax ester synthase/acyl-CoA: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (WS/DGAT) and that this complex can be functionally expressed in different bacterial hosts, suggesting the potential for potential microbial production of cheap jojoba-like wax esters. Furthermore, this was the first instance of bacterial WS/DGAT discovered. Finally, Acinetobacter has been considered as an alternative source for jojoba-like wax ester production, but is limited by the fact that its wax ester content never exceeds 14% of the cell’s dry weight. Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 Scientists have identified at least 14 genes in the Rhodococcus jostii RHA1 genome that encode putative wax ester synthase/acyl-CoA:diacylglycerol acyltransferase enzymes (WS/DGAT) with lengths ranging from 430 to 497 amino acid residues except for atf121 product, which was composed of 301 amino acid residues. Other bacteria that have been shown to produce wax esters through homologs for the WS/DGAT gene include Psychrobacter arcticus 273-4 and P. Cryohalolentis K5, with only one a single copy of the WS/DGAT gene, M. aquaeolei VT8, with 4 homologs for WS/DGAT and A. Baylyi, with a mixture of wax esters even though it only has one