The present disclosure relates to D-xylulose 4-epimerase, mutants thereof, and uses thereof. Specifically, the present disclosure relates to a polypeptide having D-xylulose 4-epimerase activity, a method for preparing said polypeptide, and use of said polypeptide in the preparation of L-pentose using D-xylose or D-xylulose as a raw material. Compared with the traditional preparation method in the prior art, the new method for preparing L-pentose discovered in the present disclosure has simpler production process and reduces the cost of producing L-pentose.

Embodiments provide a modified microbe capable of growing in or fermenting a solution, or lignocellulosic hydrolysate, comprising ferulic acid and/or coniferyl aldehyde. The microbe has one or more modifications to provide: (a) a decrease in copy number or expression of a BNA7 gene; (b) an increase in copy number or expression of one or more pentose phosphate pathway genes; and/or (c) localization of one or more products of the pentose phosphate pathway genes to the mitochondria or endoplasmic reticulum. Also provided is a microbe having modified expression or copy number of BNA7 and/or one or more of the pentose phosphate pathway genes. The pentose phosphate pathway genes may in certain embodiments be selected from at least one of ZWF1, TKL1, RPE1 and GND1. Also provided is a method for fermenting a substrate comprising ferulic acid and/or coniferyl aldehyde to produce a fermentation product.

Provided are a novel fructose-C4-epimerase and a method of producing tagatose using the same.

The invention relates to a new method of characterising a target polynucleotide. The method uses a pore and a Dda helicase. The helicase controls the movement of the target polynucleotide through the pore. The invention also relates to modified Dda helicases which can be used to control the movement of polynucleotides and are particularly useful for sequencing polynucleotides.

The invention relates to a new method of characterising a target polynucleotide. The method uses a pore and a Dda helicase. The helicase controls the movement of the target polynucleotide through the pore. The invention also relates to modified Dda helicases which can be used to control the movement of polynucleotides and are particularly useful for sequencing polynucleotides.

The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms and methods for producing steviol glycosides and steviol glycoside precursors.

The invention relates to recombinant microorganisms and methods for producing steviol glycosides and steviol glycoside precursors.

Described herein are devices and methods for increasing the production of steviol glycosides, which have industrial and economic value. The steviol glycosides produced by the devices and methods disclosed herein do not require the ultra purification that is common in conventional or commercial methods and do not have a bitter aftertaste, making them better suited as flavor-enhancing additives to food, pharmaceutical, and nutritional supplement products.

Described herein are devices and methods for increasing the production of steviol glycosides, which have industrial and economic value. The steviol glycosides produced by the devices and methods disclosed herein do not require the ultra purification that is common in conventional or commercial methods and do not have a bitter aftertaste, making them better suited as flavor-enhancing additives to food, pharmaceutical, and nutritional supplement products.

A method for purifying a crude flavor or perfumery or cosmetic ingredient or intermediate, for example crude (−)-Ambrox, comprising a number of washing steps, the products of said method, and uses of said product.