This invention relates to modified hydroxylases. The invention further relates to cells expressing such modified hydroxylases and methods of producing hydroxylated alkanes by contacting a suitable substrate with such cells.

The disclosure relates to mutant gene(s) that confer upon microorganisms that express them an improved capacity to utilize xylose and improved capacity to co-utilize glucose and xylose thereby resulting in improved growth of the microorganism. Further encompassed are methods of producing fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives from cellulosic biomass, xylose, and/or a glucose/xylose mix by employing the host cells expressing the engineered XylR variants and compositions of biologically produced fatty acids and fatty acid derivatives.

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 is related to recombinant host cells comprising: (i) at least one deletion, mutation, and/or substitution in an endogenous gene encoding a polypeptide that converts pyruvate to acetaldehyde, acetyl-phosphate or acetyl-CoA; and (ii) a heterologous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having phosphoketolase activity. The present invention is also related to recombinant host cells further comprising (iii) a heterologous polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide having phosphotransacetylase activity.

The present invention provides methods by which trans-(1R,2S)-2-(3,4-difluorophenyl)-cyclopropylamine and related cyclopropane compounds are prepared using synthetic strategies that include a biocatalytic cyclopropanation step.

This invention relates to modified hydroxylases. The invention further relates to cells expressing such modified hydroxylases and methods of producing hydroxylated alkanes by contacting a suitable substrate with such cells.

The present invention provides for a method of producing one or more fatty acid derived dicarboxylic acids in a genetically modified host cell which does not naturally produce the one or more derived fatty acid derived dicarboxylic acids. The invention provides for the biosynthesis of dicarboxylic acid ranging in length from C3 to C26. The host cell can be further modified to increase fatty acid production or export of the desired fatty acid derived compound, and/or decrease fatty acid storage or metabolism.

The present application provides a process for the preparation of -methylene--butyrolactone, said process comprising the steps of: a) acetylating the C1-hydroxyl group of isoprenol to yield isoprenyl acetate; b) forming 4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butan-1-ol from said isoprenyl acetate by whole cell biotransformation, said step comprising: i) contacting a cell (CB) with a culture medium containing said isoprenyl acetate or with a culture medium contiguous with an organic phase containing said isoprenyl acetate under conditions that enable the cell to form 4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butan-1-ol from isoprenyl acetate; and, ii) optionally isolating the resultant 4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butan-1-ol, wherein said cell (CB) exhibits activity of at least one alkane monooxygenase enzyme which catalyzes the formation of 4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butan-1-ol from isoprenyl acetate; c) oxidizing said 4-acetoxy-2-methylene-butan-1-ol to yield 4-acetoxy-2-methylene butyric acid; and, d) converting said 4-acetoxy-2-methylene butyric acid to -methylene--butyrolactone by hydroxylysis to -hydroxy--methylenebutyric acid and subsequent cyclization of said -hydroxy--methylenebutyric acid.

The disclosure relates to omega-hydroxylated fatty acid derivatives and methods of producing them. Herein, the disclosure encompasses a novel and environmentally friendly production method that provides omega-hydroxylated fatty acid derivatives at high purity and yield. Further encompassed are recombinant microorganisms that produce omega-hydroxylated fatty acid derivatives through selective fermentation.

This document describes biochemical pathways for producing 6-hydroxyhexanoate methyl ester and hexanoic acid hexyl ester using one or more of a fatty acid O-methyltransferase, an alcohol O-acetyltransferase and a monooxygenase, as well as recombinant hosts expressing one or more of such enzymes. 6-hydroxyhexanoate methyl esters and hexanoic acid hexyl ester can be enzymatically converted to adipic acid, adipate semialdehyde, 6-aminohexanoate, 6-hydroxyhexanoate, hexamethylenediamine, and 1,6-hexanediol.