In various aspects and embodiments, the invention relates to bacterial strains and methods for making terpene and terpenoid products. The invention provides bacterial strains with improved carbon flux through the MEP pathway, to thereby increase terpene and/or terpenoid product yield by fermentation with carbon sources such as glucose.

The present invention relates to the provision of an enzymatic method for the preparation of 2,6-bis(hydroxymethyl) pyridine (Formula I) using as substrate 2,6-Dimethlypyridine (2,6-lutidene) and the multicomponent xylene monooxygenase comprising XylM and XylA from Pseudomonas putida (Arthrobacter siderocapsulatus). The enzymatic method of the present invention is advantageous over conventional synthetic preparations, providing access to the title compound with a one-step enzymatic procedure.

The invention discloses an alcohol dehydrogenase mutant and use thereof. The alcohol dehydrogenase mutant of the present invention has high thermal stability and enables high catalytic efficiency and high conversion rate (i.e. space time yield) in the asymmetric reduction of prochiral diaryl ketones to produce chiral diaryl alcohols. Therefore, the alcohol dehydrogenase mutant of the present invention has extremely high prospect of application in the production of chiral diaryl alcohols, such as (S)-(4-chlorophenyl)-(pyridin-2-yl)-methanol, (R)-(4-chlorophenyl)-(pyridin-2-yl)-methanol.

The present invention relates to a process for the production of polyunsaturated fatty acids in an organism by introducing, into the organism, nucleic acids which encode polypeptides with Δ5-elongase activity. Advantageously, these nucleic acids can be expressed in the organism together with further nucleic acids which encode polypeptides of the biosynthesis of the fatty acid or lipid metabolism. Especially advantageous are nucleic acids which encode Δ6-desaturases, Δ5-desaturases, Δ4-desaturases and/or Δ6-elongases. These desaturases and elongases are advantageously derived from Thalassiosira, Euglena or Ostreococcus. The invention furthermore relates to a process for the production of oils and/or triacylglycerides with an elevated content of long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids, and oils and/or triacylglycerides thus obtained. The invention also relates to the nucleic acids, and constructs, vectors and transgenic organisms comprising the same, as well as oils, lipids and/or fatty acids produced by the process according to the invention and to their use.

The present invention relates to a yeast cell of the Komagataella genus comprising an orthologous promoter of a methylotrophic yeast cell or a variant thereof inducible by derepression, wherein the orthologous promoter is an orthologous formate dehydrogenase (FMD) promoter of a methylotrophic yeast cell.

The present disclosure concerns recombinant yeast host cells having a first genetic modification for increasing formate production, when compared to a corresponding native yeast host cell as well as a source of formate dehydrogenase activity. The source of formate can be an internal source of formate dehydrogenase activity and/or the recombinant yeast host call can be supplemented by an external source of formate dehydrogenase activity.

The disclosure discloses construction and application of an engineered strain of E. coli for producing malic acid by fixing CO.sub.2, and belongs to the field of fermentation. The engineered strain is obtained by performing genetic engineering transformation on Escherichia coli MG1655; the genetic engineering transformation includes knocking out a fumarate reductase gene, a fumarase gene, a lactate dehydrogenase gene and an alcohol dehydrogenase gene and freely overexpressing a formate dehydrogenase, an acetyl coenzyme A synthetase, an acylated acetaldehyde dehydrogenase, a formaldehyde lyase, a dihydroxyacetone kinase, a malic enzyme and a phosphite oxidoreductase to obtain a strain GH0407. The strain is used for producing malic acid by fermentation, anaerobic fermentation is performed for 72 hours with CO.sub.2 and glucose as a co-substrate, the production of malic acid reaches 39 g/L, the yield is 1.53 mol/mol, and accumulation of malic acid in the original strain is not achieved.

Many biotechnologically relevant organisms cannot utilize cheap and abundant one carbon feedstocks, e.g. CO.sub.2, CO, formaldehyde, methanol, and methane, for growth and instead prefer complex feedstocks such as sugars. Disclosed herein is a system that enables organisms to consume one carbon molecules for growth and maintenance via a formyl-CoA elongation pathway. Utilization of one carbon feedstocks can replace the use of sugar as the primary means of cultivating organisms in biotechnological applications. This has the potential to be more cost effective and avoid the controversial use of food as feedstocks. Intermediates of the formyl-CoA elongation pathway may be also be converted to desired chemical products.

Provided are a method for introducing point mutations to the coding sequence of NCg12176 gene or improving the expression thereof in Corynebacterium glutamicum, and a method for performing point mutations on the promoter region sequence of dapB gene in Corynebacterium glutamicum. The fermentation yield of L-lysine produced by a strain with the mutations can be increased by means of the methods.

The present disclosure provides for base editors which satisfy a need in the art for installation of targeted transversions of guanine (G) to thymine (T), or correspondingly, transversions of adenine (A) to cytosine (C). The domains of the disclosed base editors include a nucleic acid programmable DNA binding protein and a guanine oxidase or a guanine methyltransferase. The base editors may be engineered through the use of continuous or non-continuous evolution systems. In particular, the present disclosure provides for guanine-to-thymine (or cytosine-to-adenine) base editors that can install single-base trans version mutations. In addition, methods for targeted nucleic acid editing are provided. Further provided are pharmaceutical compositions comprising, and vectors and kits useful for the generation of, guanine-to-thymine base editors. Cells containing such vectors and cells containing base editors and guide RNAs are also provided. Further provided are methods of treatment comprising administering the base editors to a subject in need thereof.