Certain embodiments provide a method for preparing a biochemical product (e.g., phenol, catechol, or muconic acid, or a salt thereof). For example, such methods include contacting a recombinant host having two or more recombinant pathways with a fermentable carbon source and growing the recombinant cell for a time sufficient to synthesize the product. In certain embodiments, each recombinant pathway: 1) is capable of producing the same final biochemical product; 2) comprises at least one gene encoding a polypeptide; 3) is derived from a different endogenous metabolite as its immediate precursor; and 4) converges to the same final product or the same intermediate metabolite.

The present invention pertains to a method for producing high value-added compounds from polyethylene terephthalate. More specifically, the present invention demonstrates that a monomeric terephthalic acid obtained from the chemical hydrolysis of polyethylene terephthalate can be converted to high value-added aromatic compounds and aromatic-derived compounds, and ethylene glycol, which is another monomer of polyethylene terephthalate, can be converted to glycolic acid, which is a cosmetic material. The present invention is characterized by recycling polyethylene terephthalate waste into high value-added compounds.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a 3-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoic acid by using a microorganism. The method for manufacturing a 3-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoic acid comprises a step of bringing a 4-aminobenzoic acid into contact with a microorganism that produces the following polypeptide (A) or (B): (A) a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence that has at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 and has 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase activity, (B) a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 or a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence that has at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 and has 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase activity.

Disclosed herein are engineered Pseudomonas useful to relieve the metabolic bottleneck of 4-hydroxybenzoate transformation in a muconate accumulating strain on an engineered Pseudomonas by swapping its endogenous para-hydroxybenzoate-3-hydroxylase (PHBH), PobA, with a homolog, PraI, that has a broader cofactor preference.

Provided is a method for manufacturing a 3-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoic acid by using a microorganism. The method for manufacturing a 3-hydroxy-4-aminobenzoic acid comprises a step of bringing a 4-aminobenzoic acid into contact with a microorganism that produces the following polypeptide (A) or (B): (A) a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 or a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence that has at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 2 and has 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase activity, (B) a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 or a polypeptide consisting of an amino acid sequence that has at least 90% identity to the amino acid sequence shown in SEQ ID NO: 6 and has 4-hydroxybenzoate hydroxylase activity.

Certain embodiments provide a method for preparing a biochemical product (e.g., phenol, catechol, or muconic acid, or a salt thereof). For example, such methods include contacting a recombinant host having two or more recombinant pathways with a fermentable carbon source and growing the recombinant cell for a time sufficient to synthesize the product. In certain embodiments, each recombinant pathway: 1) is capable of producing the same final biochemical product; 2) comprises at least one gene encoding a polypeptide; 3) is derived from a different endogenous metabolite as its immediate precursor; and 4) converges to the same final product or the same intermediate metabolite.

A cell may include heterologous polynucleotides encoding a multienzyme complex involved in the metabolic pathway of phenylpropanoids and biosynthesis of a vanilloid or a hydroxybenzaldehyde precursor thereof, which multienzyme complex comprises enzymes for the biosynthesis of coumaric acid and a crotonase.

Herbicide-detoxifying enzymes, compositions containing one or more of the enzymes, and plant seeds treated with the enzymes are provided. The enzymes can be used in methods for detoxifying auxin herbicides or degrading auxin plant regulators, including in methods for decontaminating surface of an apparatus used in agriculture or pesticide manufacturing, methods for decontaminating water, soil, soilless media, or sludge, and methods for protecting a plant from an auxin herbicide, improving a plant's tolerance to an auxin herbicide, or removing an auxin herbicide from the surface of a plant.

Herbicide-detoxifying enzymes, compositions containing one or more of the enzymes, and plant seeds treated with the enzymes are provided. The enzymes can be used in methods for detoxifying auxin herbicides or degrading auxin plant regulators, including in methods for decontaminating surface of an apparatus used in agriculture or pesticide manufacturing, methods for decontaminating water, soil, soilless media, or sludge, and methods for protecting a plant from an auxin herbicide, improving a plant's tolerance to an auxin herbicide, or removing an auxin herbicide from the surface of a plant.