The present invention refers to a method for controlling undesired vegetation at a plant cultivation site, the method comprising the steps of providing, at said site, a plant that comprises at least one nucleic acid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding a wild-type or a mutated protoporphyrinogen oxidase (PPO) which is resistant or tolerant to a PPO-inhibiting herbicide by applying to said site an effective amount of said herbicide. The invention further refers to plants comprising wild-type or mutated PPO enzymes, and methods of obtaining such plants.

The present disclosure provides compositions and methods for rapid production of chemicals in genetically engineered microorganisms in a large scale. Also provided herein is a high-throughput metabolic engineering platform enabling the rapid optimization of microbial production strains. The platform, which bridges a gap between current in vivo and in vitro bio-production approaches, relies on dynamic minimization of the active metabolic network.

In an aspect, the disclosure provides methods for making neurotransmitters in a host organism. The neurotransmitters can be cannabinoids and derivatives of cannabinoids. The host cells can be microalgae, fungi or other host cells. In a related aspect, the disclosure provides host cells engineered to have biochemical pathways for making neurotransmitters such as cannabinoids.

The present disclosure provides isolated nepetalactone oxidoreductase polypeptides (NORs), nepetalactol synthases (NEPSs), and related polynucleotides, engineered host cells, and cultures, as well as methods for producing NORs and NEPSs, and for using them to produce nepetalactol, nepetalactone, and dihydronepetalactone. The present disclosure also provides methods for engineering cells (e.g., microbial cells) to produce nepetalactone from a fermentation substrate such as glucose, as well as engineered cells having this capability and related cultures and methods for producing nepetalactone.

This invention relates to metabolically engineered microorganisms, such as bacterial and or fungal strains, and bioprocesses utilizing such strains. These strains enable the dynamic control of metabolic pathways, which can be used to optimize production. Dynamic control over metabolism is accomplished via a combination of methodologies including but not limited to transcriptional silencing and controlled enzyme proteolysis. These microbial strains are utilized in a multi-stage bioprocess encompassing at least two stages, the first stage in which organisms are grown and metabolism can be optimized for microbial growth and at least one other stage in which growth can be slowed or stopped, and dynamic changes can be made to metabolism to improve the production of desired product, such as a chemical or fuel.

A process of producing methacrylic acid and/or derivatives thereof including the following steps: (a) biologically converting isobutyryl-CoA into methacrylyl-CoA by the action of an oxidase; and (b) converting methacrylyl-CoA into methacrylic acid and/or derivatives thereof. The invention also extends to microorganisms adapted to conduct the steps of the process.

The present invention relates to a microorganism variant having the ability to extracellularly produce heme, and more particularly to a metabolically engineered microorganism variant having the ability to extracellularly produce heme and a method of producing heme using the same. According to the present invention, heme, an organometallic compound which is increasingly used as a health food or food supplement for the treatment of porphyria, can be extracellularly secreted and produced in high yield using the microorganism variant, but not conventional chemical synthesis or enzymatic synthesis.

The present invention concerns a cell line comprising an endogenous dehydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) gene which is partially or fully inactivated, and its use for producing recombinant proteins.

The present disclosure relates to a genetically modified microorganism satisfying some of predetermined conditions. The predetermined conditions include: (I) succinate dehydrogenase activity or fumarate reductase activity being reduced or inactivated relative to a wild-type microorganism; (II) lactate dehydrogenase activity being reduced or inactivated relative to the wild-type microorganism; (III) the genetically modified microorganism having modified phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity showing resistance to feedback inhibition by aspartic acid in wild-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity, or exogenous phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity having higher resistance to feedback inhibition by aspartic acid than that of the wild-type phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase activity shown by the wild-type microorganism; and (IV) pyruvate:quinone oxidoreductase being reduced or inactivated relative to the wild-type microorganism.

The present invention pertains to a method for producing high value-added compounds from polyethylene terephthalate. More specifically, the present invention demonstrates that a monomeric terephthalic acid obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate can be converted to high value-added aromatic compounds and aromatic-derived compounds, and ethylene glycol, which is another monomer of polyethylene terephthalate, can be converted to glycolic acid, which is a cosmetic material. The present invention is characterized by recycling polyethylene terephthalate waste into high value-added compounds.