Provided is a transformant of S. pombe mutant which can produce and collect β-glucosidase without requiring complicated separation steps, and a vector which is useful for transforming a yeast of the genus Schizosaccharomyces. The transformant of a S. pombe mutant of the present invention is a transformant of a Schizosaccharomyces pombe mutant which exhibits an increased Gsf activity and decreased or no pyruvyl transferase Pvg1 enzymatic activity, and is comprised of a structural gene sequence encoding a β-glucosidase derived from a filamentous fungus, and a promoter sequence and a terminator sequence for expressing the structural gene in a chromosome or as an extrachromosomal gene. Further, the present invention relates to a cloning vector which is characterized by comprising a hsp9 gene promoter or an ihc1 gene promoter of a yeast of the genus Schizosaccharomyces, and is useful for transforming a yeast of the genus Schizosaccharomyces, an expression vector, a transformant, etc.

The present invention relates to transgenic microalgae for the production of cell wall degradative enzymes having a heat-stable cellulolytic activity (HCWDEs) and their relative uses in the biodegradation of cellulose or lignocellulose sources in the industrial field.

The present invention relates to isolated polypeptides having cellobiohydrolase activity and isolated polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides. The invention also relates to nucleic acid constructs, vectors, and host cells comprising the polynucleotides as well as methods of producing and using the polypeptides.

The present invention is directed to cellulytic host cells. The host cells of the invention expressing heterologous cellulases and are able to produce ethanol from cellulose. According to the invention, host cells expressing a combination of heterologous cellulases can be used to produce ethanol from cellulose. In addition, multiple host cells expressing different heterologous cellulases can be co-cultured together and used to produce ethanol from cellulose. Furthermore, the invention demonstrates for the first time the ability of Kluyveromyces to produce ethanol from cellulose. The yeast strains and co-cultures of yeast strains of the invention can be used to produce ethanol on their own, or can also be used in combination with externally added cellulases to increase the efficiency of saccharification and fermentation processes.

The present invention describes a syrup of tagatose and galactose as main components together with other secondary products such as glycerol, oligosaccharides and other sugars in a minority amount.

The present invention is directed to a yeast strain, or strains, secreting a full suite, or any subset of that full suite, of enzymes to hydrolyze corn starch, corn fiber, lignocellulose, (including enzymes that hydrolyze linkages in cellulose, hemicellulose, and between lignin and carbohydrates) and to utilize pentose sugars (xylose and arabinose). The invention is also directed to the set of proteins that are well expressed in yeast for each category of enzymatic activity. The resulting strain, or strains can be used to hydrolyze starch and cellulose simultaneously. The resulting strain, or strains can be also metabolically engineered to produce less glycerol and uptake acetate. The resulting strain, or strains can also be used to produce ethanol from granular starch without liquefaction. The resulting strain, or strains, can be further used to reduce the amount of external enzyme needed to hydrolyze a biomass feedstock during an Simultaneous Saccharification and Fermentation (SSF) process, or to increase the yield of ethanol during SSF at current saccharolytic enzyme loadings. In addition, multiple enzymes of the present invention can be co-expressed in cells of the invention to provide synergistic digestive action on biomass feedstock. In some aspects, host cells expressing different heterologous saccharolytic enzymes can also be co-cultured together and used to produce ethanol from biomass feedstock.

The present invention discloses a polypeptide having beta-glucosidase activity. The activity is retained also in high glucose concentration. The invention also discloses an isolated polynucleotide, a nucleic acid construct and a recombinant host usable in production of said polypeptide, and a method for producing the polypeptide. Further the invention discloses compositions including the polypeptide and method of using the polypeptide in hydrolysis or synthesis.

Methods, compositions, and kits are provided for rapidly analyzing microbial growth and/or number in a plurality of water-in-oil emulsion droplets.

Fungi that are genetically inactivated for the mstC gene (or a homolog thereof) are provided, which can also be genetically modified to increase production of heterologous proteins from a glucoamylase promoter. Methods of using these fungi, for example to degrade a biomass, are also provided.

The present invention relates to recombinant filamentous fungal host cells producing cellulolytic enzyme compositions and methods of producing and using the compositions.