Mesophilic, methylotrophic bacteria for the ph-independent production of biochemicals

Abstract

The present invention generally relates to the biotechnology engineering, and specifically to genetically modified mesophilic, methylotrophic bacteria, which allow for the production of biochemicals in a pH-independent manner. More specifically, the present invention provides a mesophilic, methylotrophic bacterium which expresses a polypeptide which has glutamate decarboxylase (GAD) activity and is catalytically active at a pH above 5.5. The present invention further provides a mesophilic, methylotrophic bacterium which expresses a) a polypeptide having α-ketoglutarate decarboxylase (KDC) activity and b) a polypeptide having GABA transaminase (GABA-TA) activity. The present invention also provides methods for the pH-independent production of biochemicals, such as γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) or related compounds, using a bacterium of the invention.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.