The present invention provides Bacillus natto for producing menaquinone-7. Bacillus natto is deposited at the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center, the accession number being CGMCC No. 21799. The strain has few requirements for nutrients, has a high yield, has mild metabolism, is easy to regulate and control, and is suitable for industrial scale-up.

The present invention provides Bacillus natto for producing menaquinone-7. Bacillus natto is deposited at the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center, the accession number being CGMCC No. 21799. The strain has few requirements for nutrients, has a high yield, has mild metabolism, is easy to regulate and control, and is suitable for industrial scale-up.

An isolated glycosyltransferase (GT) polypeptide capable of: (I): conjugating glucose to flavokermesic acid (FK); and/or (II): conjugating glucose to kermesic acid (KA) and use of this GT to e.g. make Carminic acid.

An isolated glycosyltransferase (GT) polypeptide capable of: (I): conjugating glucose to flavokermesic acid (FK); and/or (II): conjugating glucose to kermesic acid (KA) and use of this GT to e.g. make Carminic acid.

A process is provided for preparing a compound having the formula (I):

##STR00001##

said process being conducted by:

a) the addition of an oxygen source into a solution of a compound of formula (II)

##STR00002##

in a water-miscible solvent,

b) the addition of a laccase in the solution obtained in a); and

c) the possible recovering of the compound of formula (I) thus obtained.

A process is provided for preparing a compound having the formula (I):

##STR00001##

said process being conducted by:

a) the addition of an oxygen source into a solution of a compound of formula (II)

##STR00002##

in a water-miscible solvent,

b) the addition of a laccase in the solution obtained in a); and

c) the possible recovering of the compound of formula (I) thus obtained.

The present invention relates to fungal enzymes, more in particular of polyphenoloxidases (PPOs), and is based on a newly discovered enzymatic activity of a class of PPOs, i.e. de-methylation of R-substituted mono- or di-methoxyphenolsuch as present in lignin, lignin derived compounds and/or in lignocellulosic biomass. This newly discovered enzymatic activity renders these enzymes highly suitable for a plethora of applications in industry. Provided herein are methods of demethylation, processes to increase the reactivity of lignin or lignin-comprising biomass, processes of conversion lignin or lignin comprising biomass to value added products, processes for degrading and/or modifying (hemi-)cellulose in a hemicellulose-comprising substrate, and expression vectors, host cells and liquids, pastes or solid formulations and compositions for use in the demethylation method of the invention.

An isolated glycosyltransferase (GT) polypeptide capable of: (I): conjugating glucose to flavokermesic acid (FK); and/or (II): conjugating glucose to kermesic acid (KA) and use of this GT to e.g. make Carminic acid.

An isolated glycosyltransferase (GT) polypeptide capable of: (I): conjugating glucose to flavokermesic acid (FK); and/or (II): conjugating glucose to kermesic acid (KA) and use of this GT to e.g. make Carminic acid.

The present invention relates to an optimized fermentation process of coenzyme Q10, particularly to a fermentation process of coenzyme Q10 via flow feeding based on cooperative control of changes of online oxygen consumption rate and conductivity. During the fermentation process of coenzyme Q10 production strains, the oxygen consumption rate is controlled between 30-150 mmol/L.Math.h and the conductivity is maintained between 3.0-30.0 ms/cm via flow feeding, so as to facilitate strain growth and the start of coenzyme Q10 synthesis and accumulation. The present invention can substantially increase output of coenzyme Q10 and greatly reduce the production cost with simple process control and strong operability, thus being applicable to large-scale industrial production.