An engineered yeast strain capable of efficient fermentation of xylose to ethanol, and methods of making and using the strain, are provided

The present invention relates to a recombinant microorganism which is capable of simultaneously fermenting at least two sugars in a lignocellulosic saccharified liquid, and also capable of generating diol.

The invention relates to a metabolic enzyme-disrupted aerobic strain and a method for culturing the strain. The present invention provides, for example, a culture comprising a culture medium that has been cultured under an aerobic condition, wherein the culture medium contains an aerobe, wherein the aerobe has a disrupted gene encoding a metabolic enzyme of glycolysis selected from the group consisting of the metabolic enzymes of glycolysis except hexokinase, thereby suppressing metabolism from a carbon source (e.g., glucose) to the TCA cycle in the aerobe.

The present application relates to recombinant microorganisms useful in the biosynthesis of monoethylene glycol (MEG) or glycolic acid (GA), or MEG and one or more co-product, from one or more pentose and/or hexose sugars. Also provided are methods of producing MEG (or GA), or MEG (or GA) and one or more co-product, from one or more pentose and/or hexose sugars using the recombinant microorganisms, as well as compositions comprising the recombinant microorganisms and/or the products MEG (or GA), or MEG and one or more co-product.

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.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a fermentative yeast having a highly efficient ethanol production without introducing a foreign gene. A further object is to obtain a fermentative yeast that is resistant to proliferation inhibitors such as organic acids, which prevent the growth of the fermentative yeast. Yeast having improved ethanol production ability was generated by introducing transaldolase and alcohol dehydrogenase gene by self-cloning to Meyerozyma guilliermondii that can produce ethanol effectively from pentose and hexose obtained by breeding. This fermentative yeast is deposited to NITE Patent Microorganisms Depositary under the accession number NITE ABP-01976.

The present disclosure describes the engineering of microbial cells for fermentative production of 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid and provides novel engineered microbial cells and cultures, as well as related 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid production methods.

The present invention describes a recombinant yeast cell functionally expressing one or more heterologous nucleic acid sequences encoding for ribulose-1,5-phosphate carboxylase/oxygenase (EC4.1.1.39; Rubisco), and optionally one or more molecular chaperones for Rubisco, and one or more phosphoribulokinase (EC2.7.1.19; PRK), wherein one or more genes of the non-oxidative branch of the pentose phosphate pathway are overexpressed and/or wherein said yeast cell comprises a deletion or disruption of a glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD) gene.

An object of the present invention is to obtain a fermentative yeast having a highly efficient ethanol production without introducing a foreign gene. A further object is to obtain a fermentative yeast that is resistant to proliferation inhibitors such as organic acids, which prevent the proliferation of the fermentative yeast. A yeast having an improved ethanol production ability was generated by introducing transaldolase and alcohol dehydrogenase genes by self-cloning to Meyerozyma guilliermondii that can produce ethanol effectively from pentose and hexose obtained by breeding, and further breeding the resultant yeast.

Processes for producing ethanol comprise saccharifying cellulosic material with a cellulolytic enzyme composition and fermenting the saccharified cellulosic material with a fermenting microorganism to produce ethanol. The fermenting organism is Saccharomyces cerevisiae CIBTS1260 (deposited under Accession No. NRRL Y-50973 at the Agricultural Research Service Culture Collection (NRRL), Illinois 61604 U.S.A.) or a fermenting organism that has properties that the same or about the same as that of Saccharomyces cerevisiae CIBTS1260).