The invention is directed to a patchoulol synthase, to a nucleic acid encoding said patchoulol synthase, to an expression vector comprising said nucleic acid, to a host cell comprising said expression vector, to a method of preparing patchoulol and elemol, and preferably also pogostol, and to a method of preparing a patchoulol synthase.

The invention is directed to a patchoulol synthase, to a nucleic acid encoding said patchoulol synthase, to an expression vector comprising said nucleic acid, to a host cell comprising said expression vector, to a method of preparing patchoulol and elemol, and preferably also pogostol, and to a method of preparing a patchoulol synthase.

The present invention relates to methods for preparing patchoulol, -santalene, and sclareol in transgenic moss cells that include heterologous nucleic acid molecules encoding a polypeptide or synthase capable of using FPP or GGPP as a substrate. Methods for producing the transgenic moss cell, as well as the transgenic moss cell itself are also disclosed.

The present invention provides a method of producing patchoulol and 7-epi--selinene, said method comprising contacting at least one polypeptide with farnesyl phyrophosphate (FPP). In particular, said method may be carried out in vitro or in vivo to produce patchoulol and 7-epi--selinene, compounds which can be useful in the field of perfumery. The present invention also provides the amino acid sequence of a polypeptide useful in the method of the invention. A nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide of the invention and an expression vector containing said nucleic acid are also part of the present invention. A non-human host organism or a cell transformed to be used in the method of producing patchoulol and 7-epi--selinene is also an object of the present invention.

The present invention provides a method of producing patchoulol and 7-epi--selinene, said method comprising contacting at least one polypeptide with famesyl phyrophosphate (FPP). In particular, said method may be carried out in vitro or in vivo to produce patchoulol and 7-epi--seline, compounds which can be useful in the field of perfumery. The present invention also provides the amino acid sequence of polypeptide useful in the method of the invention. A nucleic acid encoding the polypeptide of the invention and an expression vector containing said nucleic acid are also part of the present invention. A non-human host organism or a cell transformed to be used in the method of producing patchoul and 7-epi--selinene is also an object of the present invention.

Disclosed are production of terpenoid compound and the strain used by, which belong to the technical field of bioengineering. The disclosure constructs an engineered strain of Serratia marcescens in production of hemiterpenes or monoterpenes, and the engineered strain of S. marcescens can produce linalool, isoprene, isopentenol, 1,8-cineole, -pinene, pinene, -terpinene, geraniol, (+)-limonene, ()-limonene, myrcene, -ocimene, sabinene, ()--bisabolol, farnesol, longifolene, valencene, -elemene, farnesene, patchoulol, pentalenene, and -santalene. In a 30 L fermenter, the yield of linalool produced by the engineered strain of S. marcescens is 40.72 g.Math.L.sup.1.