The present invention provides a tranformant which is produced by introducing an aspartic acid dehydrogenase gene into a bacterium belonging to the genus Hydrogenophilus.

The present invention relates to a recombinant microbial cell for producing at least one compound having structural Formula III from at least one simple carbon source:

##STR00001## wherein the simple carbon source is selected from the group consisting of glucose, sucrose, xylose, arabinose, mannose and glycerol; and wherein the cell comprises a further genetic modification to increase production of L-lysine in the cell from at least one of the simple carbon sources.

The present invention generally related to a modified microbial cell capable of producing high levels of spermidine and/spermidine derivatives. The genetically modified microbial cell comprises at least one modification to native spermidine biosynthetic pathway via putrescine together with genes involved in the S-adenosylmethionine biosyntheticpathway.