An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.

An in vitro and/or in vivo method of producing malonic semialdehyde (MSA) or an anion or salt thereof and/or 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP) or an anion or salt thereof is provided herein. The method may comprise two steps: (1) hydrating acetylenecarboxylic acid (ACA) or an anion or salt thereof by reacting the ACA or an anion or salt thereof with an ACA-hydrating enzyme to form a reaction product comprising malonic semialdehyde (MSA) or an anion or salt thereof; and (2) reacting the reaction product comprising MSA or an anion or salt thereof with one or more oxidoreductases in an oxidation-reduction (redox) reaction to produce 3-HP or an anion or salt thereof A pair of oxidoreductases may additionally recycle a cofactor, such as NADPH or NADH. Recombinant microbes and compositions are also provided herein which may include ACA-hydrating enzymes or variants thereof, and/or one or more oxidoreductase enzymes.

The present invention relates to fusion polypeptides comprising (a) a 4-oxalocrotonate tautomerase (4-OT)-based polypeptide scaffold which is capable of forming multimers, and (b) a polypeptide antigen; and homo- and hetero-multimers thereof. The invention also provides nucleic acid molecules and vectors encoding the fusion polypeptides and multimers; and methods of using the fusion polypeptides, multimers, nucleic acid molecules and vectors to produce an immunogenic response against the polypeptide antigen.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.

An aspect of the present disclosure is a microbial cell that includes a genetic modification resulting in the expression of a deficient form of an endogenous dioxygenase, and a gene encoding an exogenous dioxygenase and a promoter sequence, where the endogenous dioxygenase includes PcaH and PcaG, the exogenous dioxygenase includes LigA and LigB, the microbial cell is capable of growth utilizing at least one of a cellulose decomposition molecule or a lignin decomposition molecule, and the microbial cell is capable of producing 2-hydroxy-2H-pyran-4,6-dicarboxylic acid.