It has been found that wild-type ferulic acid decarboxylase derived from Saccharomyces has high catalytic activity for the production of unsaturated hydrocarbon compounds. Further, it has been found that in the ferulic acid decarboxylase, substitute of the amino acid at position 398 with glutamine, methionine, asparagine, phenylalanine, histidine, or threonine more improves the catalytic activity, making it possible to provide a method capable of producing an unsaturated hydrocarbon compound such as butadiene with high productivity, and an enzyme used in the method.

Methods and systems to control flexible gas fermentation platforms for improved conversion of CO.sub.2 into products is developed and particularly relates to a control process and system to control a ratio of feedstock gases and maximize the concentration of inert components in a bioreactor tail gas stream and or bioreactor headspace. Improved carbon utilization results though providing the most beneficial ratio of substrates to the bioreactor of the fermentation process.

An integrated process and system for employing low conversion rWGS to prepare a gas fermentation feed stream from a CO.sub.2 source and a hydrogen source in order to produce at least one gas fermentation product. Low conversion rWGS reactors may (1) employ a wider selection of inorganic catalysts then rWGS reactors requiring high temperature operation, (2) allow for use of an electric heater instead of a fired heater to preheat feed stream to the low conversion rWGS reactor, and (3) extend rWGS catalyst life by reducing the amount of water produced in the rWGS reaction.

The present invention relates to endoglucanase variants. The present invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding the variants; nucleic acid constructs, expression vectors, and recombinant host cells comprising the polynucleotides; and methods of using the variants.

Described is a method for the production of 3-buten-2-one comprising the enzymatic conversion of 4-hydroxy-2-butanone into 3-buten-2-one by making use of an enzyme catalyzing 4-hydroxy-2-butanone dehydration, wherein said enzyme catalyzing 4-hydroxy-2-butanone dehydration is (a) a 3-hydroxypropiony-CoA dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.116), (b) a 3-hydroxybutyryl-CoA dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.55), (c) an enoyl-CoA hydratase (EC 4.2.1.17), (d) a 3-hydroxyoctanoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.59), (e) a crotonyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] hydratase (EC 4.2.1.58), (f) a 3-hydroxydecanoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.60), (g) a 3-hydroxypalmitoyl-[acyl-carrier-protein] dehydratase (EC 4.2.1.61), (h) a long-chain-enoyl-CoA hydratase (EC 4.2.1.74), or (i) a 3-methylglutaconyl-CoA hydratase (EC 4.2.1.18). The produced 3-buten-2-one can be further converted into 3-buten-2-ol and finally into 1,3-butadiene.

Yeast cells having a reductive TCA pathway from pyruvate or phosphoenolpyruvate to succinate, and which include at least one exogenous gene overexpressing an enzyme in that pathway, further contain an exogenous transhydrogenase gene.

The invention relates to a method for preparing a cosmetic composition comprising the preparation of isododecane of natural origin and the mixture of isododecane formed with at least one compound selected from among: waxes, oils, film-forming agents, dyes and mixtures thereof. The invention also relates to the resulting cosmetic composition.

This invention provides recombinant cells and methods for producing terpenes and terpenoids by increasing production or accumulation or both of isoprenoid precursors thereof.

A process of producing methacrylic acid and/or derivatives thereof including the following steps: (a) biologically converting isobutyryl-CoA into methacrylyl-CoA by the action of an oxidase; and (b) converting methacrylyl-CoA into methacrylic acid and/or derivatives thereof. The invention also extends to microorganisms adapted to conduct the steps of the process.

Producing an isoprenoid compound by: 1) culturing an isoprenoid compound-forming microorganism in the presence of a growth promoting agent at a sufficient concentration to grow the isoprenoid compound-forming microorganism; 2) decreasing a concentration of the growth promoting agent to induce formation of the isoprenoid compound by the isoprenoid compound-forming microorganism; and 3) culturing the isoprenoid compound-forming microorganism to form the isoprenoid compound, is characterized in that the growth phase of the isoprenoid compound-forming microorganism is separated from the formation phase of the isoprenoid compound.