Sporulation-deficient thermophilic microorganisms for the production of ethanol
AssigneeTMO Renewables Limited
InventorsAnthony Atkinson, Roger Cripps, Kirstin Eley
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Abstract
A thermophilic microorganism comprising a modification that prevents sporulation, wherein the modification inactivates the native spo0A gene.
Claims43
A thermophilic microorganism comprising a modification that decreases sporulation compared with wild-type.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism is Geobacillus species.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism is Geobacillus thermoglucosidasius.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, further comprising a modification that inactivates the native lactate dehydrogenase gene.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, further comprising a modification that inactivates the native pyruvate formate lyase gene.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, further comprising a modification that up-regulates the pyruvate dehydrogenase gene.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, further comprising a modification that enhances pyruvate decarboxylase activity.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism comprises a heterologous pyruvate decarboxylase gene.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism comprises a heterologous alcohol dehydrogenase gene.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism is stable in a culture medium comprising at least 3% w/v ethanol.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim wherein the microorganism is stable in a culture medium comprising at least 10% w/v ethanol.
A microorganism according to any proceeding claim, wherein the microorganism is stable in a culture medium comprising up to 20% w/v ethanol.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism is transformable at high frequency.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism grows at a temperature from 40° C.-85° C., preferably 50° C.-70° C.
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism is identified as TM443 (Accession Number 41591) or TM444 (Accession Number 41588).
A microorganism according to any preceding claim, wherein the microorganism comprises a heterologous amylase gene under the control of a promoter which operates in anaerobic conditions.
A method of producing ethanol comprising culturing a microorganism according to any preceding claim under suitable conditions in the presence of a C3, C5 or C6 sugar, or oligomer thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.