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 present invention discloses a bacterium and an obtaining method and application thereof. The bacterium has a property of coproducing 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid. Further, the bacterium is Klebsiella oxytoca, including Klebsiella oxytoca PDL-5 CCTCC M 2016185. The obtaining method of the bacterium may be to obtain the bacterium by directly screening wild bacteria that satisfy conditions from the environment or performing gene engineering modification to wild bacteria. The present invention has the advantages that the bacteria can coproduce 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid through fermentation, the molar conversion rate and the concentration of the two products are very high, the types of byproducts are few, the concentration is low, the product extraction process is simplified, the high-efficiency biological production of 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid can be realized, and the industrial application prospect is very great.

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.

Modified or recombinant microorganisms are provided herein that can be used to produce one or more amino acids, including, for example, methionine or one or more methionine biosynthetic pathway-derived intermediates or one or more methionine-based products.

The present invention relates to a modified microorganism having, compared to its wild-type, a reduced activity of the enzyme that is encoded by the wcaJ-gene. The present invention also relates to a method for producing an organic compound and to the use of a modified microorganism.

The present invention discloses a bacterium and an obtaining method and application thereof. The bacterium has a property of coproducing 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid. Further, the bacterium is Klebsiella oxytoca, including Klebsiella oxytoca PDL-5 CCTCC M 2016185. The obtaining method of the bacterium may be to obtain the bacterium by directly screening wild bacteria that satisfy conditions from the environment or performing gene engineering modification to wild bacteria. The present invention has the advantages that the bacteria can coproduce 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid through fermentation, the molar conversion rate and the concentration of the two products are very high, the types of byproducts are few, the concentration is low, the product extraction process is simplified, the high-efficiency biological production of 1,3-propanediol and D-lactic acid can be realized, and the industrial application prospect is very great.

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.

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.

An isolated microorganism is disclosed being genetically modified to express pyruvate formate lyase (PFL) or 2-ketobutyrate formate lyase, wherein acetyl-CoA of the microorganism is converted to pyruvate in the presence of formate in a single step reaction, wherein the net flux of the reaction is in the direction of pyruvate synthesis. Uses of the microorganism and products comprising same are also disclosed.

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.