L-cysteine-producing bacterium and a method for producing l-cysteine

Abstract

L-Cysteine, L-cystine, a derivative or precursor thereof, or a mixture thereof is produced by culturing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, which has L-cysteine-producing ability and has been modified so that the activity of a protein encoded by a tolC gene, for example, a protein defined in the following (a) or (b), is increased in a medium, and by collecting L-cysteine, L-cystine, a derivative or precursor thereof, or a mixture thereof from the medium: (a) a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, (b) a protein comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, but wherein one or several amino acid residues are substituted, deleted, inserted or added, increase of which activity in the bacterium improves the ability of the bacterium to produce L-cysteine.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.