The present invention relates to a method for the stereo selective production of a trans-diol or a cis-diol or a hydroxyketone comprising the step(s) (i) conversion of a trans-diol or a cis-diol to a hydroxyketone and/or (ii) conversion of a hydroxyketone to a cis-diol or a trans-diol, catalyzed by an enzyme, which is encoded by a nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: or wherein the enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2. The present invention also relates to the use of an enzyme encoded by a nucleic acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 or wherein the enzyme comprises an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 for the conversion of a trans-diol to a cis-diol or for the conversion of a trans-diol or a cis-diol to a hydroxyketone and/or the conversion of a hydroxyketone to a trans-diol or a cis-diol.

The present invention provides a Saccharomyces uvarum strain capable of low production of higher alcohols and strong degradation of malic acid. After the wine using Saccharomyces uvarum recombinant strain of the present invention is fermented for 5 days, with other fermentation properties unaffected, the content of isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol and phenethyl alcohol in the wine is 28.18 mg/L, 171.76 mg/L and 13.60 mg/L respectively, which is reduced by 20.28%, 14.77% and 11.26% compared with the starting strain, the total content of main higher alcohols (n-propanol, isobutanol, isoamyl alcohol and phenethyl alcohol) is reduced by 12.97%, and the content of malic acid is reduced to 1.13 g/L after fermentation, which greatly shortens the fermentation period, overcomes the influence of lactic acid bacteria fermentation in the ordinary fermentation process and unpleasant flavor caused by higher content of higher alcohols.

The present invention pertains to the field of pulp or paper making. More specifically the present invention relates to a method of preventing a build-up of slime or removing slime from a surface contacted with water from a pulp or paper making process. The present invention can control slime in an efficient and environmentally friendly way.

Provided is a method of producing a product by culturing a carboxydotrophic acetogenic bacterium with a disrupting mutation in a lactate dehydrogenase enzyme in the presence of a substrate comprising CO, CO.sub.2, and/or H.sub.2. Preferably, the disrupting mutation reduces or eliminates the expression or activity of the enzyme such that the bacterium produces a reduced amount of lactate or no lactate.

Provided herein are gene editing systems and/or compositions comprising RNA guides targeting LDHA for use in genetic editing of the LDHA gene. Also provide herein are methods of using the gene editing system for introducing edits to the LDHA gene and/or for treatment of primary hyperoxaluria (PH), and processes for characterizing the gene editing system.

Disclosed is a technique for constructing optogenetic amplifier and inverter circuits utilizing transcriptional activator/repressor pairs, in which expression of the transcriptional activator or repressor, respectively, is controlled by light-controlled transcription factors. This system is demonstrated utilizing the quinic acid regulon system from Neurospora crassa, or Q System, a transcriptional activator/repressor system. This is also demonstrated utilizing the galactose regulon from Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or GAL System. Such optogenetic amplifier circuits enable multi-phase microbial fermentations, in which different light schedules are applied in each phase to dynamically control different metabolic pathways for the production of proteins, fuels or chemicals. The orthogonal nature of the Q and GAL systems enable the co-expression of amplifier and inverter circuits to simultaneously amplify and invert the response of light-controlled transcriptional controls over different sets of genes in the same cell.

Described herein are anti-microbial and UV-protective biological devices and extracts produced therefrom. The biological devices include microbial cells transformed with a DNA construct containing genes for producing proteins such as, for example, zinc-related protein/oxidase, silicatein, silaffin, and alcohol dehydrogenase. In some instances, the biological devices also include a gene for lipase. Methods for producing and using the devices are also described herein. Finally, compositions and methods for using the devices and extracts to kill microbial species or prevent microbial growth and to reduce or prevent UV-induced damage or exposure to materials, items, plants, and human and animal subjects are described herein. Also disclosed are biological devices producing polyactive carbohydrates and carbo sugars, as well as compositions and articles incorporating both extracts from these devices and the anti-microbial and UV-protective extracts.

The present disclosure provides recombinant microorganisms and methods for the anaerobic production of 2,4-furandicarboxylic acid from one or more carbon sources. The microorganisms and methods provide redox-balanced and ATP positive pathways for co-producing 2,4-furandicarboxylic acid with ethanol and for co-producing 2,4-furandicarboxylic acid with ethanol and 1-propanol. The method provides recombinant microorganisms that express endogenous and/or exogenous nucleic acid molecules encoding polypeptides that catalyze the conversion of a carbon source into 2,4-furandicarboxylic acid and that coupled the 2,4-furandicarboxylic acid pathway with an additional metabolic pathway.

Provided is a method for producing 1,3-propanediol by means of fermentation of a recombinant microorganism. First, a recombinant microorganism is provided; the recombinant microorganism can overexpress acetyl-CoA carboxylase genes: accBC and accDA, a malonyl-CoA synthetase gene: mcr, a 3-hydroxypropionyl-CoA synthetase gene: pcs, a 3-hydroxypropionyl-CoA reductase gene: pduP, and a 1,3-propanediol reductase gene: yqhD. The recombinant microorganism is subjected to fermentation culture in a flask or fermentor using glucose ad as raw material to obtain the 1,3-propanediol. The recombinant microorganism can utilize low-cost glucose, sucrose, molasses, xylose and the like as raw material in the fermentation process, without additional expensive vitamin B12. Thus, cost of the production is significantly reduced, and there is a promising prospect in market.

The invention discloses an alcohol dehydrogenase mutant and use thereof. The alcohol dehydrogenase mutant of the present invention has high thermal stability and enables high catalytic efficiency and high conversion rate (i.e. space time yield) in the asymmetric reduction of prochiral diaryl ketones to produce chiral diaryl alcohols. Therefore, the alcohol dehydrogenase mutant of the present invention has extremely high prospect of application in the production of chiral diaryl alcohols, such as (S)-(4-chlorophenyl)-(pyridin-2-yl)-methanol, (R)-(4-chlorophenyl)-(pyridin-2-yl)-methanol.