Ajinomoto Co., Ltd.

Kenichi Hashiguchi

Osamu Kurahashi

Hisao Ito

Tsuyoshi Nakamatsu

Yukiko Mori

Yoko Kuwabara

Kenzo Yokozeki

Shunichi Suzuki

Yuzuru Eto

Kiyoshi Miwa

Atsushi Yokota

Masako Ishigooka

Masakazu Sugiyama

Jun Nakamura

Fusao Tomita

Shigeru Yamanaka

Katsunori Kobayashi

Yuko Tanita

Yasuhiro Mihara

Keita Fukui

Yoshinori Tajima

Takayuki Asahara

Hiroaki Fukada

5'-guanylic acid (GMP) is produced efficiently by allowing a microorganism to react with xanthylic acid (XMP), wherein said microorganism is able to convert xanthylic acid into 5&#x2032;-guanylic acid and has been modified so that the nagD gene does not function normally and 5&#x2032;-guanylic acid synthetase activity is enhanced.

Method for producing 5'-guanylic acid

An organic acid is produced by allowing a bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae, which has an ability to produce an organic acid and has been modified so that the phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase activity is enhanced, which is selected fromandbacteria, or a product obtained by processing the bacterium, to act on an organic raw material in a reaction mixture containing carbonate ions, bicarbonate ions, or carbon dioxide gas to produce the organic acid, and collecting the organic acid.

Method for producing an organic acid

A DNA fragment which encodes a polypeptide defined in the following (a) or (b), and a polypeptide defined in the following (c) or (d):

Carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase gene of coryneform bacteria and method for producing L-arginine

Xylitol is produced by contacting D-arabitol with a microorganism that belongs to the genus Gluconobacter, Acetobacter, Achromobacter, Agrobacterium, Arthrobacter, Azotobacter, Brevibacterium, Corynebacterium, Erwinia, Flavobacterium, Micrococcus, Nocardia, Planococcus, Pseudomonas, Rhodococcus, Morganella, Actinomadura, Actinomyces, or Streptomyces and is capable of converting D-arabitol to xylitol, and recovering xylitol thus produced.

Process for preparing xylitol

L-valine is produced by culturing a microorganism belonging to the genus Escherichia with the capability of producing L-valine or L-leucine wherein it requires lipoic acid for growth, a microorganism belonging to the genus Escherichia with the capability of producing L-valine or L-leucine wherein it is deficient in H,-ATPase activity, a microorganism belonging to the genus Escherichia wit the capability of producing L-valine or L-leucine wherein it requires lipoic acid for growth and is deficient in H,-ATPase activity, in the liquid medium to allow the L-valine to be produced and accumulated in a culture medium, and collecting it.

Methods for producing L-valine and L-leucine

A method for processing a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, or a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, or a peptide or derivatives thereof having a crosslinked structure, which entails contacting glutamine and lysine residues in a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, a peptide or derivatives thereof with a transglutaminase obtained from Bacillus subtilus to form intermolecular or intramolecular, crosslinked .epsilon.(.delta.-Glu)-Lys bonds between or in the molecules of the protein, non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, peptide or derivatives thereof, wherein the transglutaminase has the physicochemical properties described herein.

Bacillus-derived transglutaminase

The present invention relates to (1) a transglutaminase (hereinafter referred to as TG) isolated from a Bacilli such as those of Bacillus subtilis, (2) a fraction having transglutaminase activity, and (3) a method for producing a protein, a non-proteinaceous amino acid polymer, a peptide or derivatives thereof having a crosslinked structure, by crosslinking the glutamine and lysine residues in the same with the TG or the fraction having TG activity to thereby form intermolecular or intramolecular, crosslinked .epsilon.-(.gamma.-Glu)-Lys bonds. The present invention also relates to (4) a DNA coding for a TG derived from a Bacilli such as Bacillus subtilis, (5) a vector comprising said DNA coding for the TG, (6) a cell transformed with the vector, and (7) a method for producing a Bacillus-derived transglutaminase by incubating the transformant. The crosslinked polymers produced using the Bacillus-derived TG of the present invention can be used in foods such as tofu (soybean curd), pudding, yogurt, cheese, ground fish meat, boiled fish paste, sausage and other fish and meat products and also in cosmetics, etc.

Growing community of inventors

Kawasaki, Japan

Kenichi Hashiguchi