The present disclosure discloses a recombinant microbe producing podophyllotoxin, or its derivatives, comprising genes encoding phenyl alanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), cinnamate-4-hydroxylate (C4H), 4-coumaroyl CoA-ligase (4CL), hydroxycinnamoyl-CoA quinate hydroxycinnamoyltransferase (HCT), p-coumaroyl quinate 3′-hydroxylase (C3H), caffeoyl CoA O-methyltransferase (CCoAOMT), bifunctional pineresionl-lariciresinol reductase (DIRPLR), secoisolariciresinol dehydrogenase (SDH), cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase CYP719, O-methyltransferase (OMT), cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase CYP71, and 2-oxoglutarate/Fe(II)-dependent dioxygenase (2-ODD). Also disclosed herein is a method for producing podophyllotoxin or its derivatives. Moreover, a method of treating cancer is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to mutant gibberellin 2-oxidase (GA2ox) genes and uses thereof. In particular, the effective mutations disclosed herein can reduce GA2ox enzymatic activity to different extents, leading to various degrees of GA deficient yet beneficial agronomic traits in transgenic plants.

Isolated nucleotide sequences mutated by insertion encoding a truncated sunflower oleate desaturase protein, truncated protein, methods, procedures and uses. The isolated nucleotide sequences comprise an insertion that includes a stop codon, and wherein the sequences encode a truncated sunflower oleate desaturase protein. The truncated sunflower oleate desaturase protein may be for example the sequence shown in SEQ ID No: 1 or SEQ ID No: 2.

Provided are methods and compositions for determining methylarginine demethylase activity in test samples. The methods and compositions comprise a peptide substrate containing methylated arginine that can act as a substrate for the demethylation activity, a positive control that has methylarginine demethylation activity and a variant of the positive control that does not have methylarginine demethylation activity and that can act as a negative control.

The present invention relates to the identification of a new class of fatty acid decarboxylases and its uses, in particular for producing alkanes/alkenes from fatty acids.

The present invention provides compositions and methods for catalyzing the formation of carbon-silicon bonds using heme proteins. In certain aspects, the present invention provides heme proteins, including variants and fragments thereof, that are capable of carrying out in vitro and in vivo carbene insertion reactions for the formation of carbon-silicon bonds. In other aspects, the present invention provides methods for producing an organosilicon product, the method comprising providing a silicon-containing reagent, a carbene precursor, and a heme protein; and combining the components under conditions sufficient to produce an organosilicon product. Host cells expressing the heme proteins are also provided by the present invention.

Recombinant DNA techniques are used to produce oleaginous recombinant cells that produce triglyceride oils having desired fatty acid profiles and regiospecific or stereospecific profiles. Genes manipulated include those encoding stearoyl-ACP desturase, delta 12 fatty acid desaturase, acyl-ACP thioesterase, ketoacyl-ACP synthase, and lysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase. The oil produced can have enhanced oxidative or thermal stability, can be useful as a frying oil, shortening, roll-in shortening, tempering fat, cocoa butter replacement, as a lubricant, or as a feedstock for various chemical processes. The fatty acid profile can be enriched in midchain profiles or the oil can be enriched in triglycerides of the saturated-unsaturated-saturated type.

A biosensing system that measures the concentration of halogenated alkenes is disclosed.

Some aspects of this disclosure provide compositions, methods, systems, and kits for controlling the activity of RNA-programmable endonucleases, such as Cas9, or for controlling the activity of proteins comprising a Cas9 variant fused to a functional effector domain, such as a nuclease, nickase, recombinase, deaminase, transcriptional activator, transcriptional repressor, or epigenetic modifying domain. For example, the inventive proteins provided comprise a ligand-dependent intein, the presence of which inhibits one or more activities of the protein (e.g., gRNA binding, enzymatic activity, target DNA binding). The binding of a ligand to the intein results in self-excision of the intein, restoring the activity of the protein.

The present disclosure features methods and compositions for modulating lipid metabolism to achieve improved production and quality of recombinant products, such as next generation biologics. Modulation of lipid metabolism as described herein includes, for example, introducing a lipid metabolism modulator described herein to a cell or a cell-free system. Also encompassed by the present disclosure are engineered cells with improved production capacity and improved product quality, methods for engineering such cells, and preparations and mixtures comprising the products from such cells.