The present invention provides to methods for the production of neuraminic acid or derivatives thereof under alkaline conditions and to the use of neuraminate lyases showing improved characteristics under alkaline conditions in the production of neuraminic acid or its derivatives. More particularly, the present invention employs inter alia a N-acetylneuraminate lyase which has been isolated from the psychrophilic bacterium Aliivibrio salmonicida LFI1238 and has shown to have improved characteristics under alkaline conditions.

A method of synthesizing sialic acid in plants, and plants capable of synthesizing sialic acid is provided. Furthermore, a method of producing sialylated protein in a plant is also provided. The method to synthesize sialic acid comprises providing a plant comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding N-acetyl neuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) synthase or Neu5Ac lyase, and expressing the nucleotide sequence thereby synthesizing sialic acid. The plant may also co-express a nucleotide sequence encoding one or more than one of an epimerase, a CMP-Neu5Ac synthase, a CMP-Neu5Ac transporter and a sialyltransferase.

The present invention relates to a method for producing cytidine 5-monophospho-N-acetyl-neuraminic acid (CMP-Neu5Ac, 1) from low-cost substrates N-acetyl-D-glucosamine (GlcNAc), pyruvate, cytidine and polyphosphate in a single reaction mixture with a set of optionally immobilized or optionally co-immobilized enzymes comprising N-acylglucosamine 2-epimerase (AGE), an N-acetylneuraminate lyase (NAL), an N-acylneuraminate cytidylyltransferase (CSS), a uridine kinase (UDK), a uridine monophosphate kinase and a polyphosphate kinase 3 (PPK3). Further, said process may be adapted to produce Neu5Acylated i.e. sialylated biomolecules and biomolecules including a saccharide, a peptide, a protein, a glycopeptide, a glycoprotein, a glycolipid, a glycan, an antibody, and a glycoconjugate, in particular, an antibody drug conjugate, and a carbohydrate conjugate vaccine, or a flavonoid.

Provided herein are methods for preparing a glycan product containing legionaminic acid moieties and other nonulosonic acids. Also provided herein are legionaminic acid transferase fusion proteins and vaccine compositions containing glycan products prepared according to the described methods.