The present invention provides a method of producing a composition containing docosahexaenoic acid as a constituent fatty acid of glycerides, comprising hydrolyzing a feedstock oil containing glycerides comprising docosahexaenoic acid as a constituent fatty acid by action of a Candida cylindracea derived lipase and a partial glyceride lipase, thereby increasing the proportion of docosahexaenoic acid in glyceride fractions, wherein the lipase hydrolysis reaction is performed at a temperature no higher than 30° C. for a period no longer than 15 hours.

The present invention relates to genetically engineered yeasts having a heterologous trehalase gene and fermentation processes for using such yeasts. The yeasts can express trehalase in a quantity sufficient to convert significant amounts of trehalose to glucose, thereby improving the yield of the product in a fermentation, and/or reducing or eliminating the need to add exogenous trehalase to the fermentation. The yeasts can also include other heterologous genes for expressing enzymes useful for improving yield and/or for reducing or eliminating the need to add exogenous enzymes to the fermentation.

Pichia pastoris alcohol dehydrogenase 2 (ADH2) promoter variants include at least one of the specified modifications on wild-type Pichia pastoris ADH2 promoter (SEQ ID NO: 1). The modification includes one of the following mutations: integration of a Cat8 transcription factor binding site (TFBS), particularly integration of SEQ ID NO: 3 or other gene sequences that show at least 80% similarity with this sequence, at any positions within nucleotides a) 647 to 660; b) 739 to 752; c) 1 to 948; and d) mutations specified with SEQ ID NO: 2 within nucleotides 15 to 848 separately and combinations thereof.

The present invention provides a method of producing a product for waste degradation, a product for waste degradation, an isolated microbial strain, a substantially pure culture of the isolated microbial strain, a microbial consortium or a mixed microbial composition, and a waste degradation method. The method of producing a product for waste degradation includes: isolating a plurality of microbial strains from one or more sources of food waste as separate colonies on a solid medium; selecting a plurality of the isolated microbial strains based on size and/or abundance of colonies of each of the microbial strains, the selected microbial strains being selected based on having a larger colony size and/or a higher colony abundance compared to other microbial strains; and combining the selected microbial strains to produce a microbial consortium for waste degradation.

The present invention relates to genetically engineered yeasts having a heterologous trehalase gene and fermentation processes for using such yeasts. The yeasts can express trehalase in a quantity sufficient to convert significant amounts of trehalose to glucose, thereby improving the yield of the product in a fermentation, and/or reducing or eliminating the need to add exogenous trehalase to the fermentation. The yeasts can also include other heterologous genes for expressing enzymes useful for improving yield and/or for reducing or eliminating the need to add exogenous enzymes to the fermentation.

The microorganism preparation feeding method of the invention employs an automatic microorganism preparation feeding apparatus which includes a cold storage apparatus for refrigeration-storing a seed microorganism belonging to the aerobic microorganism group including at least one species of aerobic microorganisms capable of decomposing oil and fat contained in oil/fat-including wastewater and a growth tank for growing the seed microorganism so as to produce the microorganism preparation, wherein the seed microorganism belonging to the aerobic microorganism group is maintained in a live state by means of the cold storage apparatus, the seed microorganism is periodically grown by means of the growth tank so as to produce a predetermined microorganism preparation, and the produced predetermined microorganism preparation is fed to the oil/fat-including wastewater. The method includes refrigeration-storing, as the seed microorganism, a microorganism whose population density is 1×10.sup.7 CFU/mL to 5×10.sup.9 CFU/mL in the cold storage apparatus; growing, as a source material, the seed microorganism of a predetermined volume by means of the growth tank so as to produce the predetermined microorganism preparation whose volume is 50 to 500 times the predetermined volume of the seed microorganism and whose population density is 1×10.sup.7 CFU/mL to 2×10.sup.10 CFU/mL; and feeding the produced microorganism preparation to the oil/fat-including wastewater.

Hydroxycarboxylic acids may be biosynthesized from a carbonaceous feedstock and then isolated through forming and subsequently hydrolyzing an intermediate sophorolipid. After biosynthesizing a hydroxycarboxylic acid in a cell culture medium or otherwise providing a hydroxycarboxylic acid in a first aqueous medium, the hydroxycarboxylic acid and glucose may be converted into at least one sophorolipid by a suitable microorganism or an enzyme cocktail. The at least one sophorolipid may be then be separated from the cell culture medium or first aqueous medium and then hydrolyzed in a second aqueous medium to form the hydroxycarboxylic acid and glucose as free components separate from the cell culture medium or first aqueous medium. The hydroxycarboxylic acid is present as a phase separate from the second aqueous medium and the glucose remains in the second aqueous medium.

Methods and materials related to producing glyceric acid and downstream products are disclosed. Specifically, isolated nucleic acids, polypeptides, host cells, methods and materials for producing glycolic acid by direct fermentation from sugars are disclosed.

Disclosed herein is a process for producing a recombinant Candida cell, which involves genetically engineering a parent Candida cell using a Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated (Cas)(CRISPR/Cas) system. A recombinant Candida cell obtained using the process and a method for producing D-lactic acid from a biomass using the recombinant Candida cell are also disclosed.

Provided herein are methods for increasing plant growth, plant productivity and/or soil quality using microbial fertilizers comprising Lactobacillus parafarraginis, Lactobacillus buchneri, Lactobacillus rapi, Lactobacillus zeae, Acetobacter fabarum and Candida ethanolica.