Increased ethanol production by genetic engineering of microorganisms to express hemoglobin

#Incorporated by reference herein in its entirety is the Sequence Listing entitled “Sequence-Listing.txt”, created Aug. 8, 2013, size of 28 kilobytes.

#The invention relates to the fields of microbiology and genetic engineering. More specifically, the present disclosure describes that expression of a hemoglobin gene from a bacteria of the genus Vitreoscilla was found to increase production of fermentation products in microorganisms grown under substantially anaerobic conditions.

#The following description provides a summary of information relevant to the present disclosure and is not a concession that any of the information provided or publications referenced herein is prior art to the claimed invention.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of novel plasmid pTS3 which carries the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb) on a broad host range, relatively low copy number plasmid (in comparison to for example pUC plasmids), pKT230.

#FIG. 2 illustrates a diagram of novel plasmid pTS4 which carries the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb) on a broad host range plasmid, pBBR1-MCS #5.

#FIG. 3 illustrates a diagram of novel plasmid pTS5 which carries the pyruvate decarboxylase (pdc) and alcohol dehydrogenase II (adhb) genes from Zymomonas mobilis and the Vitreoscilla hemoglobin gene (vgb).

#The practice of the invention disclosed herein employs, unless otherwise indicated, conventional methods of microbiology, molecular biology, and recombinant DNA techniques within the level of skill in the art. Such techniques are explained fully in the literature. See, e.g., (Sambrook, J., and D. W. Russell. Molecular Cloning: A Laboratory Manual. 3rd ed. Cold Spring Harbor, New York: Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 2001.

#All publications, published patent documents, and patent applications cited in this specification are indicative of the level of skill in the art(s) to which the invention pertains. All publications, published patent documents, and patent applications cited herein are hereby incorporated by reference to the same extent as though each individual publication, published patent document, or patent application was specifically and individually indicated as being incorporated by reference.

#As used in this specification, including the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references, unless the content clearly dictates otherwise, and are used interchangeably with “at least one” and “one or more.”