The present invention provides for a mechanism to completely replace the electron accepting function of glycerol formation with an alternative pathway to ethanol formation, thereby reducing glycerol production and increasing ethanol production. In some embodiments, the invention provides for a recombinant microorganism comprising a down-regulation in one or more native enzymes in the glycerol-production pathway. In some embodiments, the invention provides for a recombinant microorganism comprising an up-regulation in one or more enzymes in the ethanol-production pathway.

The invention provides a genetically modified eukaryotic microorganism for anaerobic production of essential amino acids and optionally the co-production of one or more co-products. The microorganism is genetically modified to redirect carbon flow from PEP via oxaloacetate and asparatate semialdehyde, towards the synthesis of increased amounts of essential amino acids. The microorganism may be genetically modified to produce increased amounts of one or more co-product by enhancing carbon flow from PEP via pyruvate, acetyl CoA and malonyl CoA to produce alcohols and lipids, such as triglycerides, fatty esters, fatty alcohols, fatty aldehydes, fatty amides. The invention provides a method for anaerobic production of essential amino acids using the genetically modified eukaryotic microorganism and optionally co-production of said one or more co-products. The genetically modified eukaryotic microorganism may be used for the anaerobic production of essential amino acids and optionally the co-production of said one or more co-products.

Disclosed herein is a recombinant microorganism having enhanced 2,3-butanediol producing ability, wherein a pathway for converting pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, a pathway for converting pyruvate to formic acid, or a pathway for converting pyruvate to lactate is inhibited in a microorganism having acetyl-CoA and lactate biosynthetic pathways.

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.

A combination of an electrochemical device for delivering reducing equivalents to a cell, and engineered metabolic pathways within the cell capable of utilizing the electrochemically provided reducing equivalents is disclosed. Such a combination allows the production of commodity chemicals by fermentation to proceed with increased carbon efficiency.

Provided are a microorganism for producing a pantoic acid, and a construction method therefor and an application thereof. The microorganism for producing the pantoic acid is obtained by knocking out a gene in Escherichia coli and introducing an exogenous gene. The obtained microorganism is Escherichia coli that is registered in the China General Microbiological Culture Collection Center with an accession number of CGMCC No. 21699. A pantoic acid synthesis pathway has been opened up, and accumulation of the pantoic acid can be achieved in a fermentation process.

The invention relates to a process for the production of ethanol from a composition comprising at least glucose comprising fermenting said composition in the presence of a recombinant yeast; and recovering the ethanol, wherein said yeast comprises one or more genes coding for an enzyme having glycerol dehydrogenase activity, one or more genes coding for an enzyme having dihydroxyacetone kinase activity (E.C. 2.7.1.28 and/or E.C. 2.7.1.29); one or more genes coding for an enzyme in an acetyl-CoA-production pathway and one or more genes coding for an enzyme having at least NAD+ dependent acetylating acetaldehyde dehydrogenase activity (EC 1.2.1.10 or EC 1.1.1.2), and optionally one or more genes coding for a glycerol transporter, wherein the composition comprises an amount of undissociated acetic acid of 10 mM or less. A recombinant yeast having the genes as described above is particularly sensitive towards acetic acid, and the ethanol yield rapidly decreases when the composition contains more than 10 mM undissociated acetic acid.

The invention relates to a genetically engineered thermophilic bacterial cell that is facultative anaerobic comprising: a) inactivation or deletion of the endogenous (S)-lactate dehydrogenase gene; b) introduction of a (R)-lactate dehydrogenase gene; c) inactivation or deletion of the endogenous pyruvate formate lyase A and/or B gene.

The present invention relates to a recombinant microorganism, to a method for producing alanine and to the use of the recombinant microorganism for the fermentative production of alanine.

A combination of an electrochemical device for delivering reducing equivalents to a cell, and engineered metabolic pathways within the cell capable of utilizing the electrochemically provided reducing equivalents is disclosed. Such a combination allows the production of commodity chemicals by fermentation to proceed with increased carbon efficiency.