Process for producing dipeptides or dipeptide derivatives

A process for producing a dipeptide, which comprises:

• allowing (i) polyphosphoric acid, (ii) a substance selected from the group consisting of adenosine
• 5′-monophosphate, adenosine-5′-disphosphate and adenosine 5′-triphosphate, (iii) a protein having polyphosphate kinase activity, or a culture of cells having the ability to produce the protein or a treated matter of the culture, (iv) a protein having the activity to adenosine-5′-triphosphate-dependently form said dipeptide from one or more kinds of amino acids, or a culture of cells having the ability to produce the protein or a treated matter of the culture and (v) one or more kinds of amino acids to be present in an aqueous medium;
• allowing said dipeptide to form and accumulate in the aqueous medium;
• modifying said dipeptide in the aqueous medium, or recovering said dipeptide from the aqueous medium, and then modifying thereof to form a modified dipeptide;
• and
• recovering said modified dipeptide,
• wherein the cells having the ability to produce the protein having the activity to adenosine-5′-triphosphate-dependently form said dipeptide from one or more kinds of amino acids are cells of a procaryote carrying DNA selected from the group consisting of the following or [1] and [2]:
• [1] DNA having the nucleotide sequence shown in any of SEQ ID NOs:
• 14 to 26 and 46;
• [2] DNA comprising a nucleic acid sequence which hybridizes with DNA comprising the complement of a nucleotide sequence shown in any of SEQ ID NOs:
• 14 to 26 and 46 at 65° C. in the presence of 0.7 to 1.0 mol/l followed by washing at 65° C. with 0.1 to 2×SSC solution and which encodes a protein having the activity to adenosine-5′-triphosphate-dependently form said dipeptide from one or more kinds of amino acids;
• wherein the one or more kinds of amino acids are a combination of (i) L-Ala and L-Gln, Gly, L-Val, L-Leu, L-Ile, L-Phe, L-Trp, L-Met, L-Ser, L-Thr, L-Cys, L-Asn, L-Tyr, L-Lys, L-Arg, L-His, L-α-AB, L-azaserine, L-Cit or L-theanine;
• (ii) Gly and L-Gln, Gly, L-Phe, L-Trp, L-Met, L-Ser, L-Thr, L-Cys, L-Tyr, L-Lys, L-Arg, L-α-AB or L-Cit;
• (iii) L-Met and L-Phe, L-Met, L-Ser, L-Thr, L-Cys, L-Tyr, L-Lys or L-His;
• (iv) L-Ser and L-Gln, L-Phe, L-Ser, L-Thr, L-Tyr, L-His or L-α-AB;
• (v) L-Thr and L-Gln, L-Phe, L-Leu, L-Thr or L-α-AB;
• (vi) L-Gln and L-Phe;
• (vii) β-Ala and L-Phe, L-Met, L-His or L-Cit;
• or (viii) L-α-AB and L-Gln, L-Arg or L-α-AB, and the procaryote is a microorganism in which the activities of one or more kinds of peptidases and one or more kinds of proteins having peptide-permeating/transporting activity are reduced or lost.