The present invention provides for a genetically modified host cell comprising a first polypeptide comprising a sequence having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity with a phenylacetate decarboxylase, and having an enzymatic activity to decarboxylate a phenylacetic acid into a toluene and a carbon dioxide, and a second polypeptide comprising a sequence having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity with a phenylacetate decarboxylase activating enzyme, and having an enzymatic activity to cleave a S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to form a methionine and a 5-deoxyadenosyl radical.

A method for the in vivo production of 1,3-butadiene from 2,4-pentadienoate is described (FIG. 1). Enzymes capable of decarboxylating 2,4-pentadienoate to 1,3-butadiene have been discovered. Recombinant expression of these newly discovered enzymes has resulted in the engineering of microorganisms capable of producing 1,3-butadiene when cultured in the presence of 2,4-pentadienoate. 1,3-butadienoate is an important monomer used in the manufacturing of rubbers and plastics. This invention will help to enable the biological production of 1,3-butadiene from renewable resources such as sugar, for example.

An engineered microorganism(s) with novel pathways for the conversion of short-chain hydrocarbons to fuels and chemicals (e.g. carboxylic acids, alcohols, hydrocarbons, and their alpha-, beta-, and omega-functionalized derivatives) is described. Key to this approach is the use of hydrocarbon activation enzymes able to overcome the high stability and low reactivity of hydrocarbon compounds through the cleavage of an inert CH bond. Oxygen-dependent or oxygen-independent activation enzymes can be exploited for this purpose, which when combined with appropriate pathways for the conversion of activated hydrocarbons to key metabolic intermediates, enables the generation of product precursors that can subsequently be converted to desired compounds through established pathways. These novel engineered microorganism(s) provide a route for the production of fuels and chemicals from short chain hydrocarbons such as methane, ethane, propane, butane, and pentane.

The present invention describes an approach to produce or increase hypotaurine or taurine production in unicellular organisms. More particularly, the invention relates to genetic modification of unicellular organisms that include bacteria, algal, microalgal, diatoms, yeast, or fungi. The invention relates to methods to increase taurine levels in the cells by binding taurine or decreasing taurine degradation. The invention can be used in organisms that contain native or heterologous (transgenic) taurine biosynthetic pathways or cells that have taurine by enrichment. The invention also relates to methods to increase taurine levels in the cells and to use the said cells or extracts or purifications from the cells that contain the invention to produce plant growth enhancers, food, animal feed, aquafeed, food or drink supplements, animal-feed supplements, dietary supplements, health supplements or taurine.

The present invention provides for a genetically modified host cell comprising a first polypeptide comprising a sequence having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity with a phenylacetate decarboxylase, and having an enzymatic activity to decarboxylate a phenylacetic acid into a toluene and a carbon dioxide, and a second polypeptide comprising a sequence having at least 70% amino acid sequence identity with a phenylacetate decarboxylase activating enzyme, and having an enzymatic activity to cleave a S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) to form a methionine and a 5-deoxyadenosyl radical.

The subject technology generally relates to biosynthesis of styrene. Certain embodiments of the subject technology is based, in part, on the recognition that phenylalanine can be converted to styrene by a two-step pathway of deamination and de-carboxylation, with trans-cinnamic acid (tCA) as the intermediate. Two types of enzymes are directly involved in this process, phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), which converts phenylalanine to tCA, and cinnamic acid decarboxylase, which coverts tCA to styrene. Host cells expressing these two types of enzymes can be cultured in bioreactor to produce styrene from renewable substrates such as glucose.

The subject invention pertains to a modified lantibiotic containing an intact cysteine at the C-terminus, particularly, a cysteine that is not decarboxylated and that contains a free carboxyl group. Derivatives of the modified lantibiotic comprising a moiety conjugated to the carboxyl group of the terminal cysteine are also provided. A bacterium that produces a modified lantibiotic having an intact cysteine at the C-terminus are also provided, wherein the bacterium is genetically modified to inactivate a gene that encodes a decarboxylase enzyme that decarboxylates the cysteine at the C-terminus of a precursor lantibiotic. Methods of producing a modified lantibiotic having an intact cysteine at the C-terminus by culturing a bacterium that synthesizes the modified lantibiotic and purifying the lantibiotic are also provided. Mutants of lantibiotics, particularly, mutacin 1140 having higher anti-bacterial activity or higher bacterial expression compared to mutacin 1140 are also provided.

The invention provides non-naturally occurring microbial organisms containing a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid pathway, wherein the microbial organisms selectively produce a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid of a specified length. Also provided are non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid pathway, wherein the microbial organisms further include an acetyl-CoA pathway. In some aspects, the microbial organisms of the invention have select gene disruptions or enzyme attenuations that increase production of fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes or fatty acids. The invention additionally provides methods of using the above microbial organisms to produce a fatty alcohol, a fatty aldehyde or a fatty acid.

The invention provides non-naturally occurring microbial organisms containing a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid pathway, wherein the microbial organisms selectively produce a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid of a specified length. Also provided are non-naturally occurring microbial organisms having a fatty alcohol, fatty aldehyde or fatty acid pathway, wherein the microbial organisms further include an acetyl-CoA pathway. In some aspects, the microbial organisms of the invention have select gene disruptions or enzyme attenuations that increase production of fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes or fatty acids. The invention additionally provides methods of using the above microbial organisms to produce a fatty alcohol, a fatty aldehyde or a fatty acid.

Disclosed herein are prokaryotic and eukaryotic microbes, including E. coli and S. cerevisiae, genetically altered to biosynthesize tryptamine and tryptamine derivatives. The microbes of the disclosure may be engineered to contain plasmids and stable gene integrations containing sufficient genetic information for conversion of an anthranilate or an indole to a tryptamine. The fermentative production of substituted tryptamines in a whole-cell biocatalyst may be useful for cost effective production of these compounds for therapeutic use.